Hopes and fears of mother-to-be in Afghanistan – UN News
Arfia Omid works for the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan where one in three girls are married before their 18th birthday and only 19 per cent of females under 15 years old are literate.
She has written this letter to her unborn child.
My lovely baby, I havent met you yet, but I already know how beautiful you are with your dark eyes, smiling face, soft, brown hair and golden heart. I have dreamed of having you my entire life.
I count the days and nights until I will finally hold you in my arms and love you as much as I can. Now you are only seven months and I can feel you when you move. Naughty daughter, I laugh quietly to myself.
Do you know, before you were even in my womb, I went to buy clothes for your brothers, and I saw a baby girls dress in the market? I stopped there for a while and wished to God to give you to me. You know what? I bought that dress. I knew that my next child would be a girl. I cant wait to see you in it; you will be an Afghan princess.
UNICEF/Omid Fazel
In Afghanistan, one in three girls are married before their 18th birthday.
But with all the happiness and excitement that I have, I am also nervous for you and your future in this country. I hear such sad stories about Afghan girls, but I also see how strong they are so do not be afraid. You will also be strong.
Together, we will help more women realise their promise and potential. This is my dream for you.
Afghanistan is a tough place to be a girl. Just two months ago, I cried for a mother who had just given birth to a baby girl. The father killed his wife because she delivered a baby girl. He escaped with the baby. I really cant process the suffering and fear this mother endured. She had the most painful time delivering her baby I know how hard it is for a woman to deliver at home without any healthcare facilities.
Then, after enduring labour and birth, she waited for her husband and relatives to congratulate her. Instead, her partner killed her with his own hands. Nobody knows where the baby is or if shes alive. I worry about how shes surviving without breast milk. Or if her father really cares for her, or if he sold her?
I hear such sad stories about Afghan girls, but I also see how strong they are so do not be afraid. You will also be strong
I thank God that our circumstances are different. Your father loves you, as I love you. And your brothers love you. Together, we will protect you.
When I went for the sonogram with your father, the doctor asked me, What do you want? A boy or a girl?I said, I want a baby girl.
She said, Do you know, youre the first mother I hear that wants a girl? Then she told me that the woman who came before me came from a remote area. She told the doctor that if this time she gives birth to a girl, her husband will leave her and get married to another woman.
My little girl, I know that we are the luckiest baby and mother in Afghanistan. And I want you to know that things will be better for you than they were for me, just as they were better for me than for my mother. When my mother gave birth to me, she did so in a poor family. We didnt even have our own home. When she was in second year of university, your uncle was born. Despite her hard work and dreams, she couldntcontinue her lessons. She sacrificed her life to support and protect her children.
Only a fifth of girls under 15 years old are literate in Afghanistan. UNICEF/Frank Dejo
So, years later, I found a way to thank her.
When I was in second year of university, I searched for a month and found her documents from the Ministry of Higher Education and her university. Then, I sought a permission letter from the Ministry to support her to join a private university. I gave her the registration paper of the new university as a gift for Mothers Day. I remember, she cried and laughed at the same time.
She joined the university and graduated with her diploma just two years later. I cant tell you how proud I felt. That day, she was the happiest woman in the world.
So, my lovely daughter, your grandmother is your reason to hope and to believe in change. Every day, Afghan women like her battle against the odds to bring their dreams to life. They empower each other, hand-in-hand, step-by-step. You will join that tradition, as I did. Together, we will help more women realise their promise and potential. This is my dream for you. And just as I turned my mothers dream into reality, I think you will breathe life into mine.
I think about this at night when you keep me awake with your wriggling. I pray to God for a future where women and men have equal rights; and for blessed peace so I can send you to school without fear. I pray for your health and happiness. Mostly, I pray for you to be bold and courageous.
And you will be because youll be standing on my shoulders, my darling.
With love, Your mother, Arifa.
More here:
Hopes and fears of mother-to-be in Afghanistan - UN News
- Afghanistan: Meet the midwife who stayed - UN News - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- The Taliban says it wants people to visit Afghanistan. Heres what its like - CNN - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- We may be done with Afghanistan, but it's not done with us: Ex-Green Beret - Fox News - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Three years after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, meet the midwife who stayed, delivered and saved lives - United Nations Population Fund - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Trump would demand Afghanistan disaster resignations, back pay for troops fired for refusing vax on Day 1, he says at NC rally - New York Post - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- A Marine's harrowing account of how he knew Afghanistan was doomed nine years before the withdrawal - Daily Mail - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Whats more important, my dream or the women of Afghanistan?: breakdancer Manizha Talash on her Olympic protest - The Guardian - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Uzbekistan Forges Ahead, Deepening Relations With Taliban-ruled Afghanistan - The Diplomat - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Biden Campaigns, Afghanistan Votes and Hawaii Becomes a State: Picturing This Week in History Aug. 19 25 - U.S. News & World Report - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- No singing or reading aloud: Afghanistan introduces new law putting further restrictions on women - The Times of India - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- US Has Hit Back At Militants For Afghanistan Suicide Bombing That Killed 13 Service Members: Official - International Business Times - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Inside the Virginia Newsroom Trying to Save Afghanistan From Tyranny - The Atlantic - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- A shootout on Pakistan's frontier with Afghanistan kills 5 militants and 3 Pakistani soldiers - ABC News - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Three years ago this month America withdrew from Afghanistan - The Economist - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Afghanistan owes Trump building $200,000 - Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Former Afghanistan president calls on Taliban to allow education for girls - JURIST - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Inside the Talibans Afghanistan - The National Interest Online - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Hundreds of cases of femicide recorded in Afghanistan since Taliban takeover are tip of the iceberg - The Guardian - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- How Biden allowed the Taliban to return to rule Afghanistan - New York Post - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Harris sidesteps blame for bungled Afghanistan withdrawal; congressional report to outline role - Washington Times - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Reimagining Womens Rights in Afghanistan: Federalism as a Pathway to Gender Equality - JURIST - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Need for an Urgent Rethink of International Response to the Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan - Human Rights Watch - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan have agreed to increase trade to $ 3 billion. - Eurasia Daily - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- 3 years after the Talibans return, Afghanistan is a broken country swarming with terrorists again - The Conversation Indonesia - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Uzbek prime minister is in Afghanistan in highest-level visit since the Taliban took power - Stars and Stripes - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Life in Afghanistan dire as Taliban mark 3 years of rule - DW (English) - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Afghanistan and its women in oblivion - The Diplomat in Spain - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Afghanistan Three Years after the Taliban Takeover - Crisis Group - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- A timeline of events in Afghanistan in the 3 years since the Talibans takeover - The Associated Press - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Afghanistan: Three years of Taliban rule and international inaction have left Afghan community with little hope - Amnesty International - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Afghans in Vermont recognize 3-year anniversary of U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan - Vermont Biz - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Stefanik Statement on the Third Anniversary of the Biden-Harris Catastrophic Afghanistan Withdrawal - Congresswoman Elise Stefanik - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Taliban celebrates three years since returning to power in Afghanistan - FRANCE 24 English - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- UNGA Side Event Ensuring Aid Effectiveness Amidst Afghanistan's Growing Food Insecurity - Princeton School of Public and International Affairs - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Break the Silence: End human rights violations in Afghanistan - Amnesty International - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Afghanistan: 20 years of steady education progress almost wiped out - UN News - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Afghanistan: Need for an urgent rethink of international response to the human rights crisis - World Organisation Against Torture - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- I was imprisoned and tortured by the Taliban for protesting gender apartheid in Afghanistan - Atlantic Council - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Local Afghans reflect back on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago - WBUR News - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Radical Taliban observe third year of ruling Afghanistan - Voice of America - VOA News - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Collecting Just Securitys Afghanistan Coverage on Third Anniversary of Taliban Takeover - Just Security - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Women in Afghanistan have not stopped striving for their rights, and neither should we - UN Women - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Woman who fled Afghanistan invited to record at music legend's studios - BBC.com - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Book Review: The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan after the Americans Left - Australian Institute of International Affairs - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Afghanistan: how to deal with the Taliban regime? - Eurotopics - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Princeton SPIA Faculty Share Insights on the Third Year of Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan - Princeton School of Public and International Affairs - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Three years of Taliban rule: A call to faith and action in Afghanistan - The Tablet - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Bolton warns of foreign terrorists returning to Afghanistan, criticizes US withdrawal - Amu TV - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- The Taliban have ruled Afghanistan for 3 years. Here are 5 things to know - Yahoo! Voices - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Ominous signs on a grim anniversary for U.S., Afghanistan - Washington Times - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Viral Tweet Falsely Accuses Walz of Claiming He Served in Afghanistan - The Dispatch - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Three Years Of Taliban Takeover In Afghanistan: A Look At Economy, Human Rights & Terrorism - News18 - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Kabul Is Harboring Terrorists: Rise of IS-KP in Afghanistan Greatest External Threat - The Media Line - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Afghanistan: Taliban Celebrated 3 Years of Their Rule Amid Security Problems - SpecialEurasia - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Revealed: Thousands of Afghan Refugees Taking Vacations in Afghanistan - The European Conservative - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Taliban flaunting US failures in Afghanistan three years after botched withdrawal: 'Slapping us in the face' - Fox News - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- The US withdrawal from Afghanistan continues to perpetuate damage to our nation: Tim Kennedy - Fox Business - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Harris' role in Afghanistan withdrawal a mystery despite being 'last person in the room' with Biden - Fox News - August 9th, 2024 [August 9th, 2024]
- Blinken pressured to freeze Afghanistan aid after revelation nearly $300M could have gone to Taliban - Fox News - August 9th, 2024 [August 9th, 2024]
- CNN cites Sharia law in legal motion for defamation suit over Afghanistan withdrawal reporting - Fox News - August 9th, 2024 [August 9th, 2024]
- Breaking Olympics dance debut to feature India vs. Afghanistan's Talash: Here's how it's played, schedule, - The Economic Times - August 9th, 2024 [August 9th, 2024]
- Before Bangladesh and Sheikh Hasina, how leaders of Sri Lanka and Afghanistan fled amid turmoil - The Indian Express - August 9th, 2024 [August 9th, 2024]
- The Taliban says people in Afghanistan on previous government's visas can stay for now - ABC News - August 5th, 2024 [August 5th, 2024]
- Afghanistan sprinter uses Olympic trip to shine light on how women are treated in her country - Yahoo! Voices - August 3rd, 2024 [August 3rd, 2024]
- Afghanistan sprinter Kimia Yousofi: I have to run for all the girls who cant - Sportstar - August 3rd, 2024 [August 3rd, 2024]
- Analysis: Al Qaeda expands its network of training camps in Afghanistan - Long War Journal - July 12th, 2024 [July 12th, 2024]
- How to engage with the Taliban, if you have to - The New Humanitarian - July 12th, 2024 [July 12th, 2024]
- Afghanistan dispatch: salaries of women professors and government employees reduced to discourage them from working - JURIST - July 12th, 2024 [July 12th, 2024]
- Afghanistan Ready to Implement TAPI Project - Times of Central Asia - July 12th, 2024 [July 12th, 2024]
- Navigating the Crossroads: Chinas Mineral Pursuit in Afghanistan and the US Concerns - Australian Institute of International Affairs - July 12th, 2024 [July 12th, 2024]
- Pakistan says deeply values cooperation with Afghanistan as ties sour over deportations, militancy - Arab News Pakistan - July 12th, 2024 [July 12th, 2024]
- USG DiCarlo on Afghanistan: "Human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, and inclusion of all members of ... - Department of... - July 6th, 2024 [July 6th, 2024]
- China-Taliban Relationship: China Navigates a New Afghanistan with the Taliban as its Rulers - Friedrich Naumann Foundation - July 6th, 2024 [July 6th, 2024]
- Afghanistan: A Nation In Turmoil And Its Regional Implications OpEd - Eurasia Review - July 6th, 2024 [July 6th, 2024]
- Taliban Talks With U.N. Go On Despite Alarm Over Exclusion of Women - The New York Times - July 6th, 2024 [July 6th, 2024]
- The experimented society: interventions, social science, and the failure of post-conflict reconstruction in Afghanistan ... - ReliefWeb - July 6th, 2024 [July 6th, 2024]
- UN pushes for inclusive future in Afghanistan at Doha talks - UN News - July 6th, 2024 [July 6th, 2024]
- Dancing armed men clip falsely linked to Afghanistan's historic cricket win over Australia - Yahoo News UK - July 6th, 2024 [July 6th, 2024]
- Afghanistan has been through everything. Now it wants to dust off its postal service and modernize - Rocky Mount Telegram - July 6th, 2024 [July 6th, 2024]
- UN to host Doha talks on Afghanistan with Taliban participation - Yahoo! Voices - June 30th, 2024 [June 30th, 2024]