Kabul, Jan 24 (EFE).- The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called on the Taliban on International Day of Education on Friday to immediately end the deprivation of education for millions of Afghan girls and allow them to return to school.
“It is a travesty and tragedy that millions of Afghan girls have been stripped of their right to education. No country has ever thrived by disempowering and leaving behind half its population,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, in a statement from UNAMA.
“The de facto authorities must end this ban immediately and allow all Afghan girls to return to school,” she said, referring to the Taliban ban on female education.
The UN mission in Kabul said that Afghanistan, which has been ruled by the Taliban since it took control in August 2021, is the only country in the world that explicitly bans women and girls from accessing all levels of education.
The ban on women’s education has been in place for almost four years.
Recently, the deputy foreign minister of Afghanistan’s authorities, Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, called at an official event for an end to the Taliban ban on women’s education, making a rare public criticism of the fundamentalist regime.
“Today, out of a population of 40 million, we are committing injustice against 20 million people (…) the Taliban deputy minister said Saturday.
“We have deprived them of all their rights; they have no inheritance rights, no share in determining their husband’s rights, they are sacrificed in forced marriages, they are not allowed to study, they cannot go to mosques, the doors of universities and schools are closed to them, and they are not allowed in religious schools either.”
“We request the leaders of the Islamic Emirate to open the doors of education,” he said.
Within the Taliban regime there are factions with conflicting opinions on various issues, with the ban on female education being one of the main points of contention.
Those loyal to Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada defend a strict application of Sharia, while a group close to the Haqqani network advocates a more pragmatic approach to improve international relations.
This ban is added to other restrictions imposed on Afghan women, such as the mandatory use of the burka, gender segregation and the need for a male companion for long trips. EFE
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