UN: 1000 Days Since Afghan Girls Banned from Secondary Education

01The United Nations Children's Agency recently noted that 1,000 days have passed since Afghan officials banned girls from attending secondary schools.

02Catherine Russell is the executive director of UNICEF.

03On June 13, Russell said, no country can move forward when half its population is left behind.

04In a statement, Russell urged Taliban officials to permit all children to restart learning immediately.

05She also called on the international community to support Afghan girls, who she said need it more than ever.

06The agency estimates that more than one million girls are affected.

07The UN has warned that the ban on girls' education remains the Taliban's biggest barrier to gaining recognition as the lawful rulers of Afghanistan.

08The Taliban took over Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S.

09and NATO forces in 2021.

10The group has said that educating girls goes against its strict interpretation of Islamic law.

11Although it has promised a more moderate rule, the Taliban has also barred women from higher education, most jobs, and even public spaces like parks.

12When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, they also banned girls' education.

13The Taliban has barred girls from attending classes beyond sixth grade.

14It is the only country in the world with such restrictions on female education.

15The Taliban shut down girls' secondary schools in 2022.

16The group gave religious and cultural concerns as the reasons.

17The Taliban officials said they were working to create a correct educational environment for older female students.

18The new school year started in March with girls barred from attending classes beyond the sixth grade.

19Female journalists were not permitted to attend the opening ceremony.

20An Afghan education official told VOA at the time that the ruling Taliban group might permanently close girls' secondary schools.

21The official said the Taliban is instead supporting religious schools known as madrasas.

22Schools may never be reopened the way they were under the occupation, an official at Afghanistan's education ministry told VOA.

23The official was referring to 2001-2021 when the U.S.

24military was in the country.

25Last week, UNICEF's executive director called the systematic exclusion of girls a violation of their right to education.

26She added, it also resulted in decreasing opportunities for girls and affected their mental health.

27She said UNICEF has worked with partners to run community-based education classes for 600,000 children, two-thirds of them girls, and trained teachers in Afghanistan.

28Although Afghan boys have access to education, Human Rights Watch has said the Taliban's abusive educational policies are harming them.

29In a report published in December, the group said, the departure of qualified teachers, changes in curriculum, and an increase in physical or corporal punishment have led to greater fear of going to school and falling attendance.

30Also on Thursday, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office said the Taliban has told female public civil servants that their pay would be cut to the lowest level regardless of their experience or qualifications.

31The group had already banned females from working.

32Volker Turk is the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

33The spokesperson said he urged the group to withdraw laws, orders, and all other measures that discriminated against women and girls in violation of the country's human rights obligations.

34Nobody from the Taliban was immediately available for comment.

35I'm Jill Robbins.