INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned that Afghanistan&s new laws &strip Afghan women and girls of their rights and
freedoms across the board,& and are causing harm to the nation.Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York,
Guterres said there was &a deep crisis of gender-based discrimination and oppression& against women in Afghanistan. &Afghan women and girls
are largely confined to their homes, with no freedom of movement and almost no access to education or work,& said the UN chief.Stating that
Afghan women also suffer high rates of violence, honor killings, and rising maternal mortality, he said many feel &unsafe, isolated and
powerless.&The UN chief stressed that the oppression of women undermines Afghanistan&s development and said: &Extreme gender-based
discrimination is not only a systematic abuse of women and girls and a violation of human rights conventions and laws
It is self-harm on a national scale.&He called on Afghan authorities to remove all restrictions against women and girls, reopen schools, and
allow women to fully participate in society.&Without recognizing the rights of one-half of its population, Afghanistan will never take its
rightful place on the global stage,& Guterres said.The ruling Islamic Emirate has however repeatedly said that women&s rights are ensured in
Afghanistan in accordance with Sharia law.The post UN chief says new laws ‘strip Afghan women and girls& of all their rights first
