Early in March, the Foundation interviewed Alison Davidian, UN Women’s Special Representative in Afghanistan who reflected on her contribution ‘Back to basics: Fighting for women’s rights under the Taliban’ in ‘The Art of Leadership in the United Nations: Our duty to find new forms’ report.
Why did you accept the invitation to write this article?
‘I wanted to contribute to share my experience working for UN Women during a time of really unprecedented roll-backs on women’s rights. Afghanistan is not just a test of our commitment to gender equality and women’s rights as an international community, but also a test of our commitment to collective action and the mission of the United Nations, which is closing the gap between the world as it is and the world as it should be’, she said.
In her article, Alison Davidian writes about the importance of standing her ground and what good UN leadership is in the context of the Taliban takeover in 2022. Now, three and half years later, the consequences of the Taliban’s decrees will affect generations to come. UN Women data shows that by 2026, the impact of denying 1.1 million girls education and excluding over 100,000 women from university correlates with an increased in early childbearing by 45%, and maternal mortality by 50%.
With over two decades of experience in gender equality, Davidian reflects on how the wealth of knowledge from resolutions and reports — affirming that gender equality is not just a moral imperative but vital for sustainable development, peace, economic growth, good governance, and effective humanitarian efforts — is often overlooked in times of crisis. When crisis hits, the focus is often on saving lives now, and sensitive issues like women’s rights we leave for later. But if we take this view, we will not be able to address the most urgent needs effectively, and we will lose ground that we will never get back, leaving women and girls further behind:
‘And in this era of protracted crises, later sometimes never comes. It makes you think — if our normative values are not for [times of] crisis, then when?’
She goes on and points out that gender equality is at a critical juncture:
‘Women have been fighting for their rights for centuries, but I do feel like we’re in a new chapter, a new era of the global pushback. Afghanistan is not the only country in the world where there are rollbacks on women’s rights, but it is a warning to countries and people everywhere, because it is such an extreme example of the systemic gender inequality that is in all our societies. And because it’s so extreme, I think it’s easy for us to think “It won’t happen to us, that’s happening in Afghanistan”. But then, one day you wake up, the regime has changed, and things that you took for granted are not there anymore.’
In these grave times, she is often asked ‘What can we do? How do we address this situation?’ and her response is always one key thing:
‘Invest and double down investment in women and girls. There’s nothing that undermines the Taliban’s vision for society more than putting our funding and political will behind the very part of the population that it’s seeking to oppress.’
From UN Women’s experience in Afghanistan, investing in women and girls translates into three main strategies; continue to fund women’s organisations, design and implement programming that seeks to counter the erasure of women and girls, and finally to create spaces where Afghan women can voice their priorities.
‘I think that good leadership in the UN, in Afghanistan, is ultimately anchoring our work on the people we serve, especially women and girls. Listening to their priorities, elevating those priorities, investing in their resilience, empowerment and their leadership. It means that when there’s pushback, we double down, we don’t turn away.’
Coming back to Alison Davidian’s article for ‘The Art of Leadership in the UN’ report, we ask how she likes the dragon sculptures matched with her article:
‘I love the dragon sculptures’, she enthused. ‘Dragons can be protectors and keep order, and they can also be destroyers and sow chaos. I do feel like UN leadership, especially in terms of crisis, is about how you navigate chaos and order, how you balance perseverance and adaptability, and knowing when to stand firm and when to manoeuvre strategically to keep pushing forward. This duality is at the heart of leadership in crisis.’
She also shared her views on what contemporary leaders can learn from the legacy of Dag Hammarskjöld.
‘Dag Hammarskjöld saw leadership as not about personal power, but about service and integrity and moral courage. He saw the UN as a vehicle for peace and justice in the midst of so many political pressures that were happening at that time. In today’s world where global norms are increasingly challenged, his commitment to quiet diplomacy, ethical leadership, and an unwavering dedication to upholding human rights remains as relevant and critical as ever.’
We closed the interview asking Alison Davidian what message she has for the women of the world as a gender activist.
‘For me as a women’s rights advocate, I see the resilience of Afghan women and girls and how they’re continuing to fight for their rights. I see that we are part of a global movement that has been through this before and endured. It’s a powerful and a radical principle to say that men and women are equal. It’s a foundational truth, and that truth can never be extinguished, and because of that, I believe history will always be on our side.’
Author: Simone Hagfeldt