The Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist group that are in Afghanistan.  The Taliban ended up forming a government in Afghanistan.  The Taliban is known for their brutal treatment of women and ‘misbehaving’ citizens.  The Taliban’s actions towards Afghan citizens have not changed in the slightest since they took rule.  The Taliban threatens to destabilise Pakistan.  The Taliban have been accused for

• rape

• forced marriage upon women

• not allowing woman education or the right to go out to work

• violence against women

• cruel and unusual punishments upon civilians

The Taliban had been blamed for a wave of attacks and suicide bombings. Many now only think that things can be peaceful once more in Afghanistan if the Kabul government negotiates with the Taliban.  Although, from the looks of this, it seems as though there is no hope for change and that improvements in Afghanistan seems like a fantasy that is almost impossible to make come to reality, there are already some drastic improvements that are occurring after the Taliban’s slight withdrawal in Afghanistan. The education system in Afghanistan is now known as one of the country's biggest success stories.  When the Taliban were in complete charge of Afghanistan, women were denied education but now, the amount of girls that are attending schools are around 2.9 million. Now, around 39% of women in Afghanistan, over the age of fifteen, can read and write.  Women, have now been allowed careers which, is a drastic improvement considering women weren’t even allowed education.  Women are now also allowed to be employed in the army and to be police. There is now a military training that British officers have helped to establish an academy that aspires to train around 100 female army officers per year. Even though there have been so many amazing improvements for women, violence against women is still a problem, with beatings, forced marriage and lack of economic support still occurring. There have also been incredible improvements in health since the Taliban’s withdrawal.  The access to safe drinking water has grown from 4.8% to 60.6% of the population by 2011.  So, although there has been major setbacks since the Taliban took over, there is definitely hope for a brighter future in Afghanistan.