The Taliban de facto authorities’ decision to shut down universities to female students nationwide until further notice has outraged millions of Afghans and the international community, and the UN family and the entire humanitarian community in Afghanistan demand that the de facto authorities immediately reverse their decision, UN mission in Afghanistan states.
The de facto authorities are urged by the UN and its humanitarian partners to reopen girls’ schools past the sixth grade and to stop taking any actions that limit how fully women and girls can participate in public life.
A continuation of the Taliban’s systematic practices of targeted discrimination against women is the ban on women entering universities.
The de facto authorities have restricted women’s and girls’ freedom of movement since 15 August 2021, stopped girls from attending secondary education, excluding them from the majority of the workforce, and forbade them from utilizing public parks, gyms, and bathrooms. Afghan women and girls are ultimately confined within the four walls of their houses as a result of these limitations.
It will be disastrous for the entire nation if the other half of the population is not allowed to make important contributions to society and the economy. Millions of people will be affected for years to come as a result of Afghanistan’s growing international isolation, economic misery, and suffering.
Education is a fundamental human right. In addition to depriving women and girls of this right, excluding them from secondary and higher education prevents Afghan society as a whole from benefiting from what women and girls may contribute. It robs Afghanistan as a whole of its future.
The de facto authorities’ actions to bar women and girls from employment, education, and other aspects of life raise the dangers of forced and child marriage, violence, and abuse.
Afghanistan will not be able to create an inclusive society where everyone can live in dignity and have access to equal opportunities if prejudice against more than half the population of the nation continues.
The Taliban are reminded by the UN in Afghanistan and its humanitarian allies that systematically disempowering and barring women from all facets of their public and political life is regressive and goes against the fundamental human rights norms that underpin peaceful and secure nations. This choice will discourage Afghans abroad from considering a return and drive more people to leave the nation.
