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Good morning, this is Neda, and I am an Afghan-born journalist.

For the next few months I will be telling you about the Afghan women whose lives have been affected by the rise of the Taliban regime. They can not continue their activities as before. They are either forced to live without any freedom under the strict Taliban rules or to leave their homeland.

I am passionate about telling their stories because each of them is like a mirror where I can see my past. More than twenty years ago, when the Taliban was first in power, I had been in the same situation. I was like a bird in a cage. Except for a diary and a pen, I had nothing to express myself. So, now I can better understand other Afghan women and I would like to be their voice.

One day I will share with you my personal story as well because I am also a part of the journey…

photo journaliste

Tooba Neda Safi

04.10.2021


Dispatches from women in Afghanistan


Photo article

(Credit: Naemi Ghani)

✍️ An Afghan writer and her pen, caught between blurred lines. Naema Ghani always knew what she wanted to be growing up. Over the last twenty years, she has forged a path for herself as a recognised author, poet, and champion of children’s and women’s rights. Ghani is the head of the National Children's Literature Foundation in Kabul, and several of her books have been published.

But now she says there is no telling what the future holds for her and other women as the country’s de facto rulers tighten their control on their freedoms. More than one month into Taliban control, fears for the rights and education of women and girls’ have only grown.

“Before, I believed that I could achieve my goals through hard work and perseverance but now I no longer think so, because nothing is clear,” she explains over the phone from her home in a suburb of the Afghan capital, where she lives with her brother and sister. "I am confused, I don't know what will happen next.”

Read more on Geneva Solutions


On our radar this week


Photo article

The World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO, headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, 10 March 2005. (KEYSTONE/Laurent Gillieron)

🤖 AI is disrupting the intellectual property status quo. Artificial intelligence is developing fast and is raising questions about who, or what, can own intellectual property. Ahead of the GESDA summit this week where the topic will be debated by experts, WIPO’s director of intellectual property and frontier technologies, Ulrike Till, tells Geneva Solutions why AI and its growing contributions to creative products is putting a flame under fundamental assumptions about intellectual property.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

Here's what else is happening


Also on the agenda


📌 3-7 October | UNCTAD 15. UNCTAD’s quadrennial conference is the meeting of the highest decision-making body, when member states will identify priorities and set the mandate for the next four years. It will take place online but is officially hosted by Barbados, under the theme “from vulnerabilities and inequality to prosperity for all".

UNCTAD (EN)

📌 4 October | 20 years of international solidarity. An evening celebration organised by the canton of Geneva for the 20th anniversary of the law on the financing of international solidarity, in the presence of State Councillor Nathalie Fontanet.

Canton of Geneva (EN)

📌 9 October | GESDA summit: Advancing science for ocean stewardship. Geneva Solutions' editor Kasmira Jefford will moderate this panel that asks how can we make the best use of the vast amount of genetic data flowing from our oceans and ensure better governance? The panel will take place at 10h15 in the Campus Biotech.

GESDA (EN)

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