More than 80 Afghan women who were previously denied funding by the Trump administration’s extensive cuts to international aid are now receiving a momentary rest.
The cash will remain through 2022, according to a US State Department spokesman, the BBC.
One scholar said to the BBC,” This is wonderful news, and we are very grateful,” without giving a name for fear of reprisals. However, I hope there will be a lasting option.
The women fled Afghanistan’s Taliban-ruled country to pursue their education abroad, but the sudden freeze in US Agency for International Development ( USAID ) funding increased their chance of being returned.
The Taliban has imposed severe restrictions on women, including outlawing them from entering institutions, since regaining control of Afghanistan nearly four years before.
Under the Women’s Scholarship Fund ( WSE), a USAID initiative launched in 2018 to support research in technology, engineering, architecture, and mathematics, the pupils in Oman were pursuing student and post-graduate levels.
They were informed on February 28 that their scholarships were ending and that they would be returned to Afghanistan within two weeks, which” horror and tears” caused.
A student remarked,” We are relieved now, but we are still seriously concerned about our coming.” We may have no choice but to return to Afghanistan, where we can’t experiment, and our security could be in danger if the award isn’t renewed.
The BBC’s queries into when a final decision will be made have not been answered by the US authorities.
The BBC has also contacted Oman’s government to find out if it is looking for alternative financing.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government claims to have been working to address the issue of women’s training, but also that its highest leader’s diktats are “in accordance with Islamic Sharia law.”
Some activists have been beaten, imprisoned, and threatened while protesting for their jobs and education.
Under the government’s policies, girls in Afghanistan describe themselves as “dead body moving about.”
A WSE employee had previously told the BBC they were” searching for alternative money sources” right away before the money extension. The team member warned that the students may be subject to forced relationships and oppression upon their return to Afghanistan, calling the circumstance “dangerous and devastating.”
Before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the people, primarily in their 20s, were eligible for fellowships in 2021. Up until December 2022, when the Taliban forbid higher education for women, some continued their research in Afghan institutions.
They claimed they fled to Pakistan last September after 18 weeks in purgatory.
Therefore, USAID assisted in getting their visa to Oman, where they arrived between October and November 2024.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Effectiveness has implemented the Trump administration’s plan to reduce American aid.
Aakriti Thapar and Andrew Clarance provided further monitoring.