– I want to give them the tools they need to explore the world, says Roya Mahboob, head of the company Digital Citizen Fund. Mahboob is the first female technology manager in Afghanistan, and works to ensure that girls and women gain technological competence. She thinks it can be a way for women to gain more freedom. Because the freedom of girls and women in Afghanistan was again severely curtailed in 2021, when the US withdrew from Afghanistan. The world witnessed chaotic scenes of desperate people clinging to American planes in Kabul, hoping to escape. Thousands tried to flee when the Taliban took control in Afghanistan in August 2021. Photo: Wakil Kohsar / AFP The withdrawal even with the Taliban coming back to power. 20 years of progress for women in Afghanistan have now been set back by the Taliban, writes the UN. Through several bans, Afghan girls and women are forced to stay at home. Competitive robotics team Mahboob teaches young girls coding, programming and robotics, in addition to teaching English. In 2017, she founded the Afghan Girls Robotics Team, a robotics team of 12 girls who work with robotic technology, and which participated in international competitions. After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, several of the girls evacuated to Qatar. There they can continue with their education in technology. Mahboob wants to give women financial freedom through education in technology. Photo: Roya Mahboob / Digital Citizen Fund The internet changed her life Mahboob enthusiastically told news about the first time she was allowed to join her father and brother at an internet cafe. Then she discovered the possibilities available on the internet. It changes her life, and she wants to share this with other girls and women. She thinks it’s scary to think about the future if it doesn’t prepare the younger generations for the jobs that will come. Through technological competence, she wants to make Afghan girls ready for these jobs to come: – This is the future. We must have female representation there. Technology has no limits Working with technology means that you can work from home: – You can still be at home and earn money. As long as they don’t go out, they can’t control it, says Mahboob. Roya Mahboob is the first female chief technology officer in Afghanistan. Photo: Mirwais Moquim / news The reason why she chose the field of technology was that her work cannot be limited by a physical border. If you have competence and know English, you can work for companies abroad. – You just need a PC and the skills, she says. But the Taliban have made it more difficult. In March, education activist Matiullah Wesa was arrested for “suspicious activity”. He has worked for women’s right to go to school, and has run secret schools for girls since the Taliban came to power. Before Mahboob’s organization had 13 physical centers, now they only have one, in Kabul. Now he is going to start an online school. She believes that the internet can make it possible for her to continue her work. The aim is to open a physical secondary school as soon as it is legal, with STEAM training. In addition to the fact that the Taliban have closed the women’s university in Afghanistan, they have also closed all organizations that work for women’s rights, says Mahboob: – They took away women’s freedom. Trust the younger generation But she doesn’t think it will be easy for the Taliban in the future. She has great faith in the younger generation. Afghan women demonstrated in April against foreign countries recognizing the Taliban government. Photo: AFP – They forgot that Afghanistan has 27 million inhabitants under the age of 25. They grew up with telephones, television, freedom of speech and civil courts, she says. In addition, Mahboob believes there is a difference between women today and when the Taliban ruled, in the 90s: – Afghan women are strong. They will fight for their rights. We are different, we are not like the older generations. Hear also:
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Women defy the Taliban with technological expertise – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
