Withdrawal from Afghanistan: The human security implications

The recent withdrawal of American and other troops from Afghanistan after 20 years has once again allowed the Taliban to remerge and come back as the major power brokers in a chaotic and anarchistic situation. The withdrawal has been a disaster for ordinary Afghans and looks likely to destabilize the country once more and provide a descent into fear in terms of human insecurity and conflict. The intervention in Afghanistan after 20 years has failed, and vulnerable Afghans will bear the brunt of this failure.

From a human security perspective, the withdrawal is highly problematic. Canada, which has in the past been a strong proponent of human security, should hope that freedom from fear and freedom from want, the two pillars of the perspective, have been strengthened in Afghanistan. However, there is little evidence to support this view on the ground. Yes, there have been some gains. Women were represented in Parliament, and girls were attending school. And yet, these gains are overshadowed by many elements of what still remains a "failed state.". It looks highly likely that every piece of social progress made will now be dismantled by the Taliban, and patriarchal, extreme Islamic laws will be reintroduced and gains made for vulnerable groups completely reversed.

This webinar will explore some of the human security challenges for the Afghan people in the wake of the withdrawal. Of particular interest is the situation of women and girls who face serious difficulties in the light of Taliban actions and practice.

We encourage you to register even if you are unable to attend. All registrants will receive a link to the webinar recording.

Meet our panel,

• Pashtana Durrani started her journey as an activist and human rights defender. Durrani is now a Community development expert focusing on Digital literacy, SRHR, MHM, and WASH. Durrani is the founder and Director of grassroots-level non-profit LEARN Afghanistan. Through LEARN's project Soraya, she has educated 7000 girls and boys in Kandahar. Through Project Ayesha Durrani, she has trained more than 80 teachers in digital literacy. Through LEARN's Project Malalai, Durrani has reached out to 150 girls and trained them in Menstrual Hygiene Management. Pashtana received the Malala Fund Education champion award and a development Fellowship on sexual and reproductive healthcare from Aspens Institute. 
• Muska Dastageer is a political scientist specializing in peace and political theory. She is a lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) in Kabul, Afghanistan. Dastageer is also an Expert Advisor on the Atlantic Council's Strategic Dialogues on Afghanistan. She has worked as a special anti-corruption advisor with the Joint Taskforce for Anti & Counter Corruption (JTACC) and advised the USAID-funded Afghanistan's Measure for Accountability and Transparency (AMANAT) program and the Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, delivering several damning institutional assessments of ministries in Kabul in 2018 and 2019. 
• Prof. Kenneth Christie is the Program Head and a Professor in the Human Security and Peacebuilding graduate programs. Christie is a political scientist, author, editor and international academic who has taught and conducted research at universities in the U.S., Singapore, South Africa, Norway and Dubai. Working all over the world has given him a unique perspective on peace, development and human security. His work has focused on issues of human rights, security and democratization. He is widely published as an author and editor with eleven books to his credit.
• Dr. Athena Madan is a core faculty with the School of Humanitarian Studies. She has worked in Afghanistan as a health worker (supporting midwifery training, maternal and child health intervention, addictions intervention, and the rehabilitation of child soldiers) with local NGOs since 2012.
• Dr. Lauryn Oates research interests include education in conflict and post-conflict countries; technology for education; open educational resource materials; literacy; teacher education and teaching critical thinking, as well as epistemology, empiricism, ethics and humanism. Oates has led projects in Afghanistan, such as a program that trained 10,000 teachers and a network of village libraries and basic literacy classes for girls and women who missed out on their educations under the Taliban. She has worked to make educational materials accessible to teachers in their own languages through several translation projects and participated in the creation of the first digital library for teachers in Afghanistan. 

Thank you to our Master of Arts in Human Security and Peacebuilding for hosting this virtual dialogue.

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