I also acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people as traditional custodians of the Canberra region.
Today we are here to recognise CARE’s 13-year partnership with the people of Afghanistan, particularly Afghan women and girls, to deliver education in rural and remote communities under the most challenging of conditions.
I wish we were here under better circumstances.
Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, it has issued over 80 decrees and edicts to constrain women’s and girls’ education, mobility, employment, clothing, use of public spaces, civil liberties and personal freedoms.
And the Taliban’s latest edict on what they call the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, has essentially mandated the erasure of women and girls from public life.
The cumulative effect of these decisions has forced the closure of CARE’s Empowerment through Afghanistan Program.
Through the life of the CARE program, more than 40,000 students in rural and remote communities in Afghanistan received an education.
More than 32,000 of these were girls.
In the communities where CARE operated, we saw a marked decrease in instances of early marriage, child labour and gender-based violence.
The program transformed lives and livelihoods, helping to equip women and girls to overcome setbacks and exercise their social and political rights.
The closure of CARE’s program is a huge loss, and the women and girls of Afghanistan, and the entire country, are poorer for it.
But our fight for the women and girls for Afghanistan will continue.
Since coming to office, the Albanese Government has committed $174 million in humanitarian and development assistance to the people of Afghanistan – including $5 million for CARE’s education program.
We have supported more than 800,000 women and girls to access reproductive health and psychosocial support.
Last month, Australia led a joint statement on the Situation of Women and Girls in Afghanistan at the United Nations General Assembly, and supported a UN Human Rights Council resolution on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.
And at the UN in September, I joined with my counterparts from Canada, Germany and the Netherlands to invoke Afghanistan’s responsibility under international law for violations of the rights of women and girls, as enshrined under CEDAW.
This is the first time a that a group of states has joined in bringing an action under CEDAW to defend the human rights of women and girls from gross and systemic violations of their human rights.
It is also the first time that Australia has taken formal accountability action under an international human rights treaty.
In my address to the UN General Assembly, I said the Taliban had erased women from Afghanistan’s self-portrait, depleting the soul and prospects of a nation.
These photos restore what the Taliban has erased.
In these photos, we see the challenges of educating women and girls in Afghanistan.
But we can also see the resilience and quiet dignity of these young women, and their determination to build their own futures and the future of their communities.
And Australia is determined to support them – not just because it is the right thing to do – although it certainly is.
We are determined because we know it simply is not possible to achieve durable peace, stability and prosperity without considering the perspectives and needs of half the population.
That is why our International Development Policy requires 80 percent of our investments to include a focus on gender equality.
And it is why we remain so committed to the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
Because any country that wants to achieve peace, stability and prosperity must encourage the full participation of all its people.
Australia is clear eyed about challenges ahead.
The Taliban do not want us, nor half their own population, to succeed.
But the women and girls of Afghanistan are depending on us.
We cannot let them down.
