Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Katherine Russell called on the Taliban that controls Afghanistan (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) allow girls to attend secondary schools. This is reported by Interfax with reference to Russell’s statement on the UN website.
“It is deeply disappointing that the de facto Afghan authorities have once again prevented girls from going to secondary school. This unjustified and short-sighted decision is shattering the hopes and dreams of more than a million girls and is yet another dark stage in the ongoing decline in the rights of girls and women across the country,” Russell said.
The day before, Afghanistan officially announced the start of a new academic year.
The report notes that the Taliban leaders have repeatedly promised, including to UN representatives, that they will not interfere with the education of girls and women. But they have been deprived of the right to study for several years.
The head of UNICEF believes that the lack of opportunities to get an education is doing a huge damage to the mental health and well-being of children, as well as the future of the country as a whole.
“Girls and adolescents, including those with disabilities, have the right to education. Depriving girls of the opportunity to study will have far-reaching consequences for the economy and the health care system of the country,” she stressed.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls cannot go to school. After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the education of girls in secondary schools was suspended. The Taliban then banned Afghan women from universities until further notice, it said. More than 100,000 female students were forced to suspend their studies at public and private universities. In March last year, the indefinite ban on the education of girls over the 6th grade was extended.
Banning girls from school costs Afghanistan 2.5% of its annual gross domestic product, according to UNICEF. The organization notes that if the current generation of three million girls were able to complete their secondary education and find a job, their contribution to the Afghan economy would be at least $5.4 billion.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
