Zarifa Ghafari Former Afghan Mayor - 22 September 2021
/
2:57
/
MP4
/
218.3 MB

Edited News | UNITED NATIONS

Zarifa Ghafari Former Afghan Mayor 22 September 2021

Taliban can’t rule Afghanistan without women, says female mayor who fled Kabul

Afghan political campaigner Zarifa Ghafari – a former female mayor who fled Kabul last month – has insisted that the Taliban must allow women to play a meaningful part in Afghanistan’s future.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Geneva Peace Talks on Tuesday 21 September at UN Geneva, where she was attending the NGO event as a keynote speaker and activist, Ms. Ghafari described how the situation has deteriorated in the country.

“Since 15 August, unfortunately, life is getting so hard for everyone: the financial situation, poverty, the level of violence, the level of poverty, the level of fear, the level of losses goes on and up always, day by day.”

Ms. Ghafari became the mayor of Maidan Shar, near Kabul, in 2018, at the age of 26. She survived attacks on her life by the Taliban, who murdered her father, she said. “Taliban attacked me three times. They killed my dad, they destroyed my yesterday and my future… And they took all the hopes and everything that I had and the world that I made for myself.”

Today, having fled abroad soon after the Taliban takeover, she remains determined to speak up on behalf of all Afghan women – noting that not a single one has been appointed to the new Afghan rulers’ cabinet.

“Qualifications in this new government is being part of jihad, being part of killing of people,” she maintained, adding that she didn’t care if there the Taliban appointees were “Hazara, Uzbek, Pashtun or whatever…there are no women, so this this cabinet, it’s not my cabinet”.

Volunteering herself for talks with the Taliban on behalf of all Afghan women, Ms. Ghafari said that women had been “the biggest victims of ongoing conflicts since more than 60 years”.

She added: “I want to talk to them on behalf of all women of Afghanistan who have been already paid a big amount of prices for the war or maybe for the peace. So now, they are just lost.”

A certain amount of progress on gender equality has happened in Afghanistan since the country’s new rulers were last in power, 20 years ago, Ms. Ghafari continued: “We are not the women of 2001, we are not the women of the 90s; if they really want to govern and lead in Afghanistan, they are not able to govern without 50 per cent of Afghanistan which are women.”

Nonetheless, the former mayor of Maidan Shar remains concerned about the future of girls and women whose education is under threat. “More than 50 per cent of teachers at school were women around the country,” she said. “But now, women are just forced to stay at home and more importantly, and so the worst part, is asking women, asking girls not to come to school and abandoning them from school.”

She added: “For what do we have to pay? Why should I pay? Why am I paying? So I think these are the most important topics that we need to talk about it, and if they are ignoring it, they will have the same ignorance in Afghanistan that they are having right now.”

ends

STORY: Zarifa Ghafari - Former Afghan Mayor

TRT: 2’57’’

SOURCE: UNTV CH

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

DATELINE: 22 September 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST

  1. Exterior wide shot, United Nations flags flying.
  2. Wide shot, Geneva Peace Talks in progress at UN Geneva, participants.
  3. SOUNDBITE (English): Zarifa Ghafari: “Since 15 August, unfortunately, life is getting so hard for everyone: the financial situation, poverty, the level of violence, the level of poverty, the level of fear, the level of losses goes on and up always, day by day.”
  4. Wide shot, Zarifa Ghafari delivering her speech to the Geneva Peace Talks audience.
  5. SOUNDBITE (English): Zarifa Ghafari: “Qualifications in this new government is being part of jihad, being part of killing of people.”
  6. Medium shot, Zarifa Ghafari speaking and being filmed by a TV camera.
  7. SOUNDBITE (English): Zarifa Ghafari: “In Afghanistan, the biggest part of losses, the biggest victims of ongoing conflicts since more than 60 years is women always.”
  8. Wide shot, Geneva Peace Talks, audience attending the Geneva Peace Week talks.
  9. SOUNDBITE (English): Zarifa Ghafari: “We are not the women of 2001, we are not the women of the 90s; if they really want to govern and lead in Afghanistan, they are not able to govern without 50 per cent of Afghanistan which are women.”
  10. Medium shot, Zarifa Ghafari delivering her speech, TV camera in foreground.
  11. SOUNDBITE (English): Zarifa Ghafari: “I don’t care, is there a Hazara, Uzbek, Pashtun or whatever, but there are no women, so this this cabinet, it’s not my cabinet.”
  12. Close-up of panel which reads “Peace Talks Geneva”.
  13. SOUNDBITE (English): Zarifa Ghafari: “Taliban attacked me three times. They killed my dad, they destroyed my yesterday and my future, some amount of that. And they took all the hopes and everything that I had and the world that I made for myself.”
  14. Medium shot, Zarifa Ghafari speaking in front of audience.
  15. SOUNDBITE (English): Zarifa Ghafari: “I want to talk to them on behalf of all women of Afghanistan who have been already paid a big amount of prices for the war or maybe for the peace. So now, they are just lost.”
  16. Close shot participant filming event on his mobile phone.
  17. SOUNDBITE (English): Zarifa Ghafari: “More than 50 per cent of teachers at school were women around the country but now, women are just forced to stay at home and more importantly, and so the worst part, is asking women, asking girls not to come to school and abandoning them from school.”
  18. Wide shot, Zarifa Ghafari delivering her speech, shot from behind.
  19. SOUNDBITE (English): Zarifa Ghafari: “For what do we have to pay? Why should I pay? Why am I paying? So I think these are the most important topics that we need to talk about it, and if they are ignoring it, they will have the same ignorance in Afghanistan that they are having right now.”
  20. Wide shot, Zarifa Ghafari delivering her speech.
  21. Medium, Zarifa Ghafari delivering her speech, low-angle shot.
  22. Medium shot, one half of the Peace Talks sign, with Zarifa Ghafari to rear, participants applauding.

Similar Stories

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights presents report on Sri Lanka to 60th HRC

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights presents report on Sri Lanka to 60th HRC ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his report on Sri Lanka to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

HRC 60 HC Volker Türk Global update speech

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

HRC 60 HC Volker Türk Global update speech ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

DRC: UN report raises spectre of war crimes and crimes against humanity

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

DRC: UN report raises spectre of war crimes and crimes against humanity ENG FRA

A UN report on the Democratic Republic of Congo raises specter of war crimes and crimes against humanity in North and South Kivu, according to UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.

Global air pollution update - WMO 04 September 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | WMO

Global air pollution update - WMO 04 September 2025 ENG FRA

As billions of people continue to breathe polluted air that causes more than 4.5 million premature deaths every year, UN climate experts on Friday highlighted how damaging microscopic smoke particles from wildfires play their part, travelling half-way across the world.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Cameroon

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Cameroon ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence made the following comment on the on-going presidential election process in Cameroon at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva. 

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Myanmar

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Myanmar ENG FRA

The UN Human Rights Office released a new report on Myanmar, describing death, destruction and desperation which reflect atrocities committed in 2017. 

Afghanistan earthquake update OCHA - IFRC - UNHCR

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UNHCR

Afghanistan earthquake update OCHA - IFRC - UNHCR ENG FRA

Afghanistan: Humanitarians scramble to reach survivors of deadly quake; response at ‘breaking point’

In remote eastern Afghanistan, aid workers are racing to assist survivors of Sunday’s devastating earthquake as the death toll continues to climb, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

Gaza - Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA

1

1

1

Edited News | UNRWA

Gaza - Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA ENG FRA

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, repeated his urgent call for a ceasefire in Gaza on Friday, amid increased military Israeli activity in the enclave’s largest city.

Gaza update - OCHA WHO 29 August 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , WHO

Gaza update - OCHA WHO 29 August 2025 ENG FRA

Amid reports of increased Israeli military operations across Gaza City on Friday, UN aid agencies repeated urgent warnings of ongoing famine and a likely rise in preventable disease, linked to the dire living conditions in the war-shattered enclave.

OHCHR-Ravina Shamdasani: increasing executions in Iran

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

OHCHR-Ravina Shamdasani: increasing executions in Iran ENG FRA

UN calls for Iran to halt executions and move towards ending the death penalty.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on Killing of Journalists in Gaza

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on Killing of Journalists in Gaza ENG FRA

The UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following comment on the killing of journalists in Gaza at the bi-weekly press briefing.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan on “rotation” practice by Egyptian Government

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan on “rotation” practice by Egyptian Government ENG FRA

The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday called on Egyptian authorities to end the practice known as “rotation”, which allows Government critics to be held arbitrarily and for prolonged periods.