UN Women says 90% of Afghans support girls’ right to learn despite Taliban ban
By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – UN Women in a new alert issued on Friday reported that over 90% of Afghan adults support girls’ right to be in class despite the ongoing ban on girls’ secondary education.
UN agency noted that 4 years after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the scale and severity of the women’s rights crisis continues to intensify.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are prohibited to attend secondary school.
It said that in a nationwide door-to-door survey of over 2,000 Afghans, more than nine in 10 supported girls’ right to learn.
Sofia Calltorp, UN Women’s Chief of Humanitarian Action, at a press conference in Geneva said “It is clear: Despite the existing bans, the Afghan people want their daughters to exercise their right to education.”
A protracted humanitarian crisis continues in Afghanistan coupled with systemic and institutionalized restrictions on women and girls’ rights, UN Women stated.
Ms. Calltorp insisted that it is more important than ever to continue investing in Afghan women’s community organizations, which offer healthcare, mental health support and a chance to connect.
“In a country where half the population lives in poverty, education is the difference between despair and possibility,” she said, voicing their yearning to be back in a school environment.
UN Women’s Special Representative in Afghanistan, Susan Ferguson said “This is almost always the first thing girls tell us they are desperate to learn and just want the chance to gain an education”.
The new alert highlighted the deepening normalization of the women’s rights crisis a year after the introduction of a stricter so-called morality law codified a sweeping set of restrictions.
The Taliban’s ban on women working for NGOs announced nearly three years ago continues to have a devastating impact, said UN Women.
Over half of NGOs in Afghanistan report that it has affected their ability to reach women and girls with vital services.
UN Women survey conducted in July and August found that 97 per cent of Afghan women said it had negatively impacted them.
