Denial of women's right to education in Afghanistan not justifiable: UN

The denial of women's rights to education by the "Taliban de facto authorities" in Afghanistan has no justification on any grounds as it has harmed not only them but also the country's future in a crucial way, the UN experts said in a statement.

The continued "denial of girls and young women's right to school in Afghanistan marks a global low in education, harming an entire gender, a generation, and the future of the country," TOLOnews reported citing the statement.

"On 22 March 2023, schools should be reopening to girls across Afghanistan. Instead, it appears that for the second successive school year, teenage girls will be banned from resuming their studies - making Afghanistan the only country in the world that forbids girls and young women from attending secondary school and places of higher education," the statement said.

"Education is an enabling right, which is crucial in and of itself and for realising other human rights such as the rights to work, to an adequate standard of living, to health, to participate in society and communities, to equality before the law and to fundamental freedoms. Denying this right to half the population effectively denies women and girls most other human rights," the statement read, as per TOLOnews.

Qatar hosted talks on the future of education in Afghanistan and the challenges and obstacles facing it, the Qatar foreign ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah Al Khater, with the participation of the CEO of Education Above All Foundation, Fahad Al Sulaiti, represented Qatar in the talks held in Doha, where a delegation from the Afghan Ministry of Education, led by Education Minister Mawlawi Sayyid Habeeb Agha, a delegation of the UNICEF organization headed by UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia George Laria, and the Chief of Strategic Partnerships at Education Cannot Wait Organization Nasser Fakih also participated.

"The participants also agreed on the need to ensure the right to education for all, develop a common vision that deals with challenges, and provide high-quality education opportunities for all Afghan students in all regions," the statement reads.

The US special envoy for Afghanistan, Rina Amiri, said on Twitter that a "stable and sustainable Afghanistan hinges on reversing extreme policies like the ones banning girls from schools above grade 6."

A women's rights activist, Mariam Marouf Arveen also lamented over the plight of Afghan women in the country and said that if the Taliban continues to deny the rights of females to attain education in the country which is already ravaged by war, the female generations of Afghanistan will be harmed severely.

"If the Afghan women this year, as the year before, are deprived, we will see that the female generations of Afghanistan will be harmed seriously, including with a rise in forced marriage," TOLOnews quoted Mariam Marouf Arveen as saying.

The Islamic Emirate's spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that efforts are underway to facilitate the reopening of the schools and universities for female students.

As female education continues to suffer majorly in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is all set to send a team of scholars to the country to discuss women's right to education and work with the regime, TOLOnews reported.

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the situation of females in the country has only gone worse. Females in the country are prohibited from leadership posts and are not allowed to travel unless accompanied by a male companion.

The Taliban promised to reopen all schools on March 23, 2022, but on that day they once more closed secondary institutions for girls.

There is still no word on when or if these schools will reopen or the ban is indefinite.

The Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021 and imposed policies severely restricting basic rights--particularly those of women and girls, dismissed all women from leadership posts in the civil service and prohibited girls in most provinces from attending secondary school.