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This past week, a small number of women returned to public universities in Afghanistan with younger girls resuming their high school education from the start of the Afghan new year in March. It’s a glimmer of hope in a country which has been left desperate since the chaotic withdrawal of American and British troops last year. Yet such small changes seem like a PR exercise offered by the regime to appease the international community into thinking that social progress is on its way.

The country, reliant largely on foreign assistance, has had nearly $10 billion worth of assets frozen and sanctions imposed. Yes, the international community should put pressure on the Taliban- we know they’re capable of extreme, brutal behaviour. But pressure at what cost? As the country spirals into abject poverty, haunting images and stories of starving families struggling to survive, emerge. It’s shocking and yet not completely surprising to see cases of desperate parents selling their children, especially their daughters for food. There’s a parallel here with the practice of infanticide, prevalent in many ancient societies around the world. It was sometimes used as a way out of dire poverty. The Qur’an’s prohibition of this practice, lies in a chilling allusion, ` and do not kill your children for fear of poverty. God will provide.’ Some Afghans may continue to wait, with their faith in God but others see that no one is providing. Prayer and hope can be hollow allies.

We in the west can get lost in geo-political debates about the rights and wrongs of intervention, the clash of different values. But in wanting to punish the Taliban, we may end up punishing the entire country. Sometimes the only value worth upholding is to feed the hungry where and when we can. This is a universal responsibility, intrinsic to our humanity. Compassion can’t be a choice, rather it forms the basis of morality, a sentiment and action which should underpin international cooperation.

Most of us on the outside fail to appreciate Afghanistan as a country with diverse cultures and a nation struggling to give voice to the aspirations, aesthetics, and dreams of ordinary people. We see the country only as a place of conflict. A whole generation in Afghanistan grew up to the sounds of explosions and gunfire. It seems to me that if we don’t act with greater commitment now, the new generation may have escaped the bombs only to die of hunger. Afghanistan like every other nation is worth far more.

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