While the Ministry of Education had stated that all schools, including girls’ high schools, would re-open on March 23, 2022, yesterday’s decision comes as no surprise given the Taliban’s ideology and disregard for the Afghan people, as demonstrated by its violent overthrow of Afghanistan’s elected government in August 2021.
Such a move exposes the Taliban’s deceptive rhetoric in attempting to persuade the Afghan people and foreign interlocutors that it is dedicated to upholding human rights, especially the rights of women and children. It also violates fundamental human rights obligations imposed by treaties to which Afghanistan is a signatory, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
DIDE strongly encourage all United Nations (UN) member states, the EU, organizations, and donors planning to attend the upcoming Afghanistan Donor Conference on March 31, 2022, to condition any education sector support on the end of gender-based persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan, including the re-opening of all secondary schools for girls across the country.
DIDE strongly rejects the Taliban’s decision to keep girls’ secondary schools (those above grade 6) closed indefinitely. The Taliban announced their decision Wednesday, on the day schools were set to reopen after a seven-month suspension.
