'We're deeply worried': UN agency says Afghan girls must not be excluded from schools

Welcoming the announcement that the secondary schools will reopen in Afghanistan on Saturday, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday that it was still “deeply worried” that many Afghan girls will not be allowed back into the classrooms. This came as the recent announcement of school reopening from the Taliban referred only to the “return of boys”, making no reference to a return date for girls. The hardline Islamist fundamentalists that formed a government in Afghanistan made an official press announcement that all schools at the primary, secondary levels, as well as official religious schools, will reopen after prolonged closures due to the COVID pandemic. 

But strangely, they made no mention whether girls might be able to attend the school as the Taliban-run education ministry named just boys in the statement. Taliban had earlier prohibited the women from going to work and ordered them to sit back at home as its fighters “weren’t trained” to respect them. “All teachers and male students should attend school,” the statement from the Taliban read on Friday, September 17. This comes despite the Taliban’s vague promises that the regime will ensure women’s rights and would not enforce policies from their tenure in 1996-2001 that barred girls and women from availing education.

“Girls cannot, and must not, be left behind. It is critical that all girls, including older girls, are able to resume their education without any further delays. For that, we need female teachers to resume teaching,” UNICEF chief Henrietta Fore said in a statement on September 17. Taliban mentioned that it would govern the country on lines of the strict interpretation of Islamic law that prohibits girls from attending school. 

“Every day that girls miss out on education is a missed opportunity for them, their families, and their communities,” the UNICEF chief stressed, as she appealed that the Afghan girls must return to school. 

Taliban shuts down Ministry of Women’s Affairs 

In addition to the latest development, the Taliban also abruptly shut down the government’s ministry of women’s affairs sparking protests from the female employees just outside the ministry building, according to the footage that emerged on Twitter. The office was replaced with a separate department that would deal with the implementation of religious doctrine across the Afghanistan Emirate. It is to be noted that the new Taliban government does not have a single female member or any ministry that represents marginalized women of the country. This is contradictory to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid’s media claims that the rights of women will be protected, as also he had urged in front of reporters for the women “to join its government.” 

[Taliban changes ministry of women affairs of Afghanistan to ministry of propagation of Islamic virtue. Image: Twitter/@NangyalHasnain]

Slamming the announcement that left out girls from attending the schools, the UN agency spokesperson issued a stern response and said, “Even before the most recent humanitarian crisis, 4.2 million children were not enrolled in school. Around 60 percent of them are girls. Every day that girls miss out on education is a missed opportunity for them, their families, and their communities.” She added, that these are the important improvements for the country’s children that “we must respect and protect.” Furthermore, Fore stressed, “All girls and boys have an equal chance to learn and develop the skills they need to thrive and build a peaceful and productive Afghanistan.” 

(Image: AP)