Comments on: Reclaiming Leadership – the Women’s Jirga for Afghanistan https://womenalliance.org/reclaiming-leadership-the-womens-jirga-for-afghanistan/ Equal Rights – Equal Responsibilities Thu, 14 May 2026 05:27:18 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Dr. Sibylle von Heydebrand https://womenalliance.org/reclaiming-leadership-the-womens-jirga-for-afghanistan/#comment-4531 Thu, 14 May 2026 05:27:18 +0000 https://womenalliance.org/?p=22746#comment-4531 Thank you for your comment. The article does not suggest that solutions can or should be imposed from outside Afghanistan. On the contrary, one of the central ideas behind the Women’s Jirga is precisely to create space for Afghan women themselves — including those inside the country and in the diaspora — to articulate priorities and shape discussions affecting their future.
Given the realities under Taliban rule, many forms of leadership and participation necessarily take place under extremely difficult conditions. The initiative seeks to support, amplify, and connect these voices internationally, not to speak over them.

]]> By: Sanja Jeraj https://womenalliance.org/reclaiming-leadership-the-womens-jirga-for-afghanistan/#comment-4511 Fri, 08 May 2026 12:32:01 +0000 https://womenalliance.org/?p=22746#comment-4511 A strong and well-intentioned initiative — but the opening claim deserves scrutiny. The initiative was launched in New York, on the margins of CSW — by diaspora figures, not from within Afghanistan. Women still living under Taliban rule are largely forced to act in the shadows, under surveillance, with shrinking resources. This raises an uncomfortable question: how connected is this initiative genuinely to the women it claims to represent?

The key question remains how this can be realistically implemented, especially given existing structural and political constraints. The current Afghan government is unlikely to change its mind on its own. External intervention — like the Soviet Union’s ten-year war to prevent Afghanistan from falling out of its sphere of influence, which ironically it did: by resisting Soviet communism, Afghanistan moved toward becoming the Islamic state it is today — offers little, and certainly not lasting, success. Only when internal frustration and anger reach a point where risking one’s life seems the only option, is there a chance for change. External support is welcome — but it should be wary of claiming to know better what is right for Afghanistan. Imposed solutions rarely guarantee success.

]]>