LAST UPDATE | 3 hrs ago

TÁNAISTE MICHEÁL MARTIN and actress Meryl Streep have co-hosted a discussion at the United Nations in New York about women’s future in Afghanistan. 

With women’s rights severely restricted since the Taliban forcibly took power in 2021, Streep said in a speech: “A bird may sing in Kabul. A girl may not and a woman may not.”

The Tánaiste is at the UN’s New York headquarters for the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week and is attending a number of events about gender equality, including co-hosting the discussion about women in Afghanistan with Streep.

In her address, Streep highlighted the extreme limitations imposed by the Taliban regime on women and girls.

“In the 1970s… there were women in every profession [in Afghanistan], and then the world upended. And today, in Kabul, a female cat has more freedoms than a woman.

“A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban.”

Meryl Streep at the United Nations: A female cat has more freedoms than a woman in Afghanistan,

"A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face," Streep said. "She may chase a squirrel into the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan." pic.twitter.com/poNKpuGAwo

— Natiq Malikzada (@natiqmalikzada) September 23, 2024

The Tánaiste said he was honoured to co-host the discussion with Streep, who introduced a short screening of a documentary film called The Sharp Edge of Peace.

Writing on social media, Martin said it is “devastating to see how life for women has changed since the Taliban seized power”.

“As a teacher, education has been my lifelong passion. This is among the basic rights that Afghan women & girls have lost,” he said.

“This is a persecution of a gender & a denial of fundamental freedom. The international community must do all we can to keep this on the world agenda.”

Earlier this month, the Taliban further tightened its restrictions on women, introducing a law to, it said, “promote virtue and prevent vice”.

Women were already banned from secondary schools and universities and ordered to be chaperoned by a family member and cover themselves in public.

Measures in the new law include that a woman’s voice should not be heard outside the home and that they should not sing or read poetry aloud.

Men and women who are not related are forbidden from looking at each other and women must also cover themselves entirely if non-Muslim women are present (usually, veiling is not considered necessary if only women are present in private settings).

The Tánaiste is also delivering a keynote address today at a UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) event on investing in women and girls in agriculture.

He is expected to pledge Ireland’s support to the FAO’s Commit to Grow Equality initiative, which aims to improve gender equality and women’s empowerment in agri-food systems.

He will announce a €1.5 million contribution from Ireland to the Commit to Grow Equality Initiative.

“Women play a critical role in food production and farming globally but face a range of barriers that hold them back. Removing those barriers would significantly increase food production and farm incomes in the poorest countries,” Martin said in a statement.