What is the Taliban’s position regarding women studying?
For more information about girls in primary and secondary education, please refer to the section Access to Education in this report.
For more information about the interpretation of Sharia law in educational institutions, please refer to the chapter How is Sharia law interpreted and applied?
UNOHCHR, Afghanistan: Banning women and girls from schools and workplace jeopardises entire country, UN committee condemns, 29 December 2022
“GENEVA (29 December 2022) – The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has strongly condemned the recent decisions by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to exclude women and girls from universities and ban them from working for non-governmental organisations (NGOs), saying they are cruel violations of women and girls’ rights. They stressed that these policies would result in one of the world’s largest gender gaps and jeopardise the entire country for generations. The Committee issued the following statement:
“We condemn in the strongest terms the decision by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to exclude women and girls from universities. We also deplore the latest decree to ban women from working for NGOs. Since returning to power, the de facto authorities have shut down secondary schools for girls across the country, and it is estimated that more than one million girls have been barred from attending high school over the past year. With the latest ban on universities, the country is now excluding half of its population from normal schooling, creating one of the world’s biggest gender gaps. The order forbids women from working in NGOs, which will not only deprive them and their families of income but will also completely erase their only social life and deny them an opportunity to contribute to the country’s development. Their exclusion also means millions of women and girls could be left out of the humanitarian response, which is critically important to the country where about six million people are at risk of famine. These destructive policies will have harmful consequences for Afghanistan for generations to come.
These decisions must be reversed immediately, and women and girls of all ages in every part of Afghanistan should be allowed to return to their classrooms and workplace safely. We recall our 2020 recommendations to the country to ‘ensure that women and girls have the same level of access to secondary and higher education as men and boys’. The exclusion of women and girls from secondary schools and universities amounts to a direct violation of the country’s binding legal obligations to uphold the fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed in customary international law and human rights treaties to which it is a party, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. We call upon the de facto authorities to revoke these decisions without delay in order to fully comply with the CEDAW Convention and other human rights treaties, with the view to restoring access to all levels of education for women and girls throughout the country. The full realisation of their right to education and the right to participate freely and safely in the development of Afghan society are interlinked. The Committee urges the de facto authorities to respect and protect the rights of women and girls to peaceful assembly in recent demonstrations triggered by the decisions to ban women from universities. The Committee also calls for the immediate release of the women reportedly arrested during these protests.””
Khaama Press, Taliban (IEA) Bans Two Female Training Centers in Kabul & Herat, 27 December 2022
“Authorities of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan closed two educational centers in Kabul and Herat accommodating more than 1200 female students. Roya Mahboob, the Founder of the Afghan Girls Robotic Team tweeted on Monday that the Taliban authorities forcibly shut the education centers in Herat and Kabul. More than a thousand female students were taking pieces training in business, Robotics, coding, and Information Communications Technology. Following the latest decree by the Ministry of Higher Education of the interim regime banning women’s university education, the dreams of thousands of school and university girls were buried.
Afghanistan’s Taliban regime gradually started implementing extremely strict practices with regard to women’s education and employment, prompting worldwide criticisms. According to the ruling regime’s interpretations of Islamic Sharia, girls and women in Afghanistan were not fully complying with the established rules and regulations in universities and work environments. As a consequence of which, women have been barred from attending universities, and training centers as well as working with private or foreign non-governmental organizations until further notice.”
UNFPA, Taliban banning women from higher education and from working with humanitarian organizations, 27 December 2022
“Statement by Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA I strongly condemn the recent decrees by the Taliban de facto authorities banning women from higher education and from working with national and international humanitarian organizations. These decisions violate international human rights law and deny women and girls in Afghanistan the freedom and ability to make their own choices and decisions, depriving them of their autonomy and the rights to which they are entitled as human beings. By denying women and girls the right to education, the de facto authorities are denying the contributions of half the Afghan population to the country’s national development, economic growth, and stability.”
UNAMA, UN SECURITY COUNCIL PRESS STATEMENT ON AFGHANISTAN, 27 December 2022
“The members of the Security Council are deeply alarmed by reports that the Taliban have suspended access to universities for women and girls, and reiterated their deep concern of the suspension of schools beyond the sixth grade, and their call for the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan, and called on the Taliban to reopen schools and swiftly reverse these policies and practices, which represent an increasing erosion for the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
UNOHCHR, Comment by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on reported ban on women attending university in Afghanistan, 21 December 2022
“The reported decision by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to ban women from attending university is another appalling and cruel blow to the rights of Afghan women and girls and a deeply regrettable setback for the entire country. The systematic exclusion of women and girls from virtually all aspects of life, as I have noted before, is unparalleled in the world. To exclude women from tertiary education is all the more heart-breaking considering the vital contribution Afghan women have made in so many professional and vocational areas over the
years. Coming on top of girls being barred from attending secondary school, just think of all the female doctors, lawyers and teachers who have been, and who will be, lost to the development of the country. The suspension of women’s participation in tertiary and higher education is in clear violation of Afghanistan’s obligations under international law. The rights of women and girls to access all levels of education without discrimination is fundamental and unquestionable. I call on the Afghan de facto authorities immediately to reverse this decision and to fully respect and facilitate the right of women and girls to access education at all levels. For their sake and for the sake of the whole of Afghan society. ENDS”
“UNICEF strongly condemns the recent decree issued by the Taliban de facto authorities banning allfemale humanitarian workers at national and international NGOs from working across Afghanistan. This decision is a blatant violation of obligations under international humanitarian law and the most fundamental human rights of women in Afghanistan. It comes just days after the decision to ban all women from access to higher education.
“Beyond the egregious roll back of basic rights, these decisions will have far-reaching consequences for the delivery of essential services for children and families across the country – especially in the areas of health, nutrition, education and child protection – areas where female humanitarian workers have an immeasurably important role to play. This includes the programming of UNICEF, through which we provide services to 19 million people, including more than 10 million children, across the country.
“By banning female NGO workers, the Taliban de facto authorities are effectively denying these services to a significant portion of the population and putting the lives and well-being of all Afghans, especially women and children, at risk.
“UNICEF calls on the Taliban de facto authorities to immediately reverse both decisions, on higher education and humanitarian work, and to allow all female students to go back to school and female NGO workers to continue their important work in Afghanistan across the humanitarian sector.””
IOM, IOM Condemns Decision Banning Women from University and Calls for Full Respect of Women’s Rights, 24 December 2022
“Geneva - The decision by the Taliban de facto authorities to ban women from attending university is the latest in a series of systematic restrictions and violations of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. We urge the de facto authorities to reverse their decision and ensure equal access to education at all levels for women and girls. Access to education and equal opportunities are the rights of all Afghan women and girls. Over the past months, they have undoubtedly suffered disproportionately and have been gradually stripped of their fundamental rights and freedoms. Violence against women and girls is on the rise and safety concerns are exacerbated for those displaced, who face additional challenges. Women and girls are crucial to the future of the country. Excluding them from secondary and tertiary education will also prevent their full participation in Afghan society and undermine the sustainable development of the country. Alongside our United Nations partners, IOM calls upon the de facto authorities to respect, protect and ensure the unfettered rights and freedoms of all persons – especially women and girls. We are committed to empowering them and stress that they must be included in the social, economic, and political life in Afghanistan.”
Save the Children, Statement in response to further restrictions on girl's education in Afghanistan, 23 December 2022
“23 December 2022 -- The Taliban tightened restrictions on girls' education above grade six in Afghanistan yesterday, suspending all remaining private schooling for girls and clamping down on schools in provinces which have, until now, remained open for girls above grade six. In response to the announcement, Nora Hassanien, Acting Country Director for Save the Children in Afghanistan, said: "News of even tighter restrictions on girls' education above grade six is evidence that the crisis in Afghanistan is getting worse, not better. The announcement from the de facto authorities yesterday is devastating, crushing the hopes and dreams of girls across the country.
There is nowhere in the world where women and girls' access to education is limited in the way it is in Afghanistan. "Education is essential for women to take up key positions such as teachers, doctors, engineers, lawyers and many other professions, including aid workers, that are so desperately needed across the country. Without female professionals, girls and women will find it even more difficult to access vital services like healthcare. "The consequences of this decision will be long-lasting and severe for girls especially, but also for Afghanistan as a whole. We urge the authorities to immediately reverse yesterday's announcement and the existing ban on girls' education, as well as the recent ban on university education for women." The news followed an earlier announcement that universities in Afghanistan will be closed to women. On behalf of 183 national and international NGO member organizations operating in Afghanistan, including Save the Children, the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief and Development (ACBAR) condemned the announcement in a statement released yesterday. ENDS”
Save the Children, ACBAR condemns the decision of suspending women from universities in Kabul, 22 December 2022
“KABUL, 22 December, 2022 - On behalf of 183 national and international NGO member organizations operating in Afghanistan, Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief and Development (ACBAR) condemns the announcement on 20th December by the Ministry of Higher Education for an immediate and indefinite suspension on women attending universities. This decision follows the decision in March 2022 to prevent girls from attending school beyond primary school (grade 6). “Today I was supposed to defend my monograph for my bachelor degree, but at the gate of the university I was stopped and not allowed to go in. I was told that girls cannot continue their studies. All of a sudden, my dream for my future is shattered,” graduating woman student in Kunduz. These decisions are an attack on the ability of Afghan women and girls to receive an education and participate in public and professional life. Access to education is a fundamental right for all women and girls, and this announcement is devastating for our staff, their families and communities. The decision also harms Afghanistan’s future prospects. Without higher education for half of the population, long term development gains will inevitably stall. Education is essential for women to take up key positions such as teachers, doctors, engineers, journalists, lawyers, writers, artists, and many other professions including aid workers that are so desperately needed across the country. If women are not educated and cannot work, this in turn limits the access of other women and girls to critical and life-saving services and to the economic growth of the country. “We are deeply saddened by this decision. NGOs have been able to work for over forty years in Afghanistan in different sectors through the support of their experienced and professional national women and men staff. Human capacity is one of the greatest resources of any country and we have lost many qualified colleagues - women and men - in the last year. To reverse the impact of this brain-drain, we need to ensure that universities and schools continue to operate, for both girls and boys,” said Fiona Gall, Director of ACBAR. ACBAR calls on the relevant authorities to allow all Afghans, no matter their gender, to access education and fulfil their potential as full and equal members of society. Endorsed by the Steering Committee of ACBAR Contact: ACBAR Deputy Director – 0093793771089”
Mercy Corps, Authorities cut off economic lifelines by banning education for women in Afghanistan as families struggle to put a single meal on the table, 22 December 2022
“Yesterday’s announcement excluding women from universities across Afghanistan will further hinder efforts to rebuild a country on the brink of economic collapse, against a stark reality where two thirds of the population will need humanitarian assistance in 2023. Denying women and girls an education, and excluding them from the workforce, will only increase the economic strain felt by millions of households struggling to afford even the most basic food items. Jack Byrne, Mercy Corps Country Director for Afghanistan, says: “It is not only distressing, but counterintuitive, to restrict women and girls – almost half the population – from pursuing an education when the country is in economic free fall and facing one of the world’s most severe hunger crises. We’ve seen through years of providing vocational training how essential formal and non-formal education opportunities are to uplift women and girls’ economic opportunities and we are deeply disturbed by this news.” "Conflict, displacement and natural disasters have prompted Afghanistan's humanitarian situation to deteriorate rapidly throughout 2022. With more than 6 million people already on the brink of famine-like conditions and the world’s highest prevalence of insufficient food consumption, we are expecting two thirds of the population to be in need of humanitarian assistance in the new year.
That’s some 28.3 million people.” “Household incomes have decreased exponentially and we’ve seen a six-fold increase in reliance on humanitarian aid as a primary source of income. This is made worse by the fact that many women who previously contributed to household income are no longer able to work. At least half the population, and counting, are living on less than $1.90 USD per day. Putting even a single meal on the table has become a daily struggle” “This year less than 60% of the required humanitarian funds were raised by the international community. An even greater amount (US$4.62 billion) is needed to support vulnerable crisis-affected people in 2023. More funding is urgently needed, and without it, lives are on the line this winter.””
Afghanaid, Statement: Afghanaid on Afghan Women’s Right to Education, 22 December 2022
“16 months on from an initial ban on secondary-aged girls attending school, as a result of a new edict from the de facto authorities on Tuesday 20th December universities in Afghanistan have now been closed to women, deepening the erosion of women’s hard won rights in the country to an alarming level.”
Women’s Refugee Commission, Alliance for Peacebuilding, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Mina’s List, Refugees International, and Voice, Statement on the situation of Afghan women and girls, 21 December 2022
“[…] the Taliban banned Afghan women from attending university—effectively ending girls’ educational opportunities after primary school. Today the Women’s Refugee Commission, Alliance for Peacebuilding,
Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Mina’s List, Refugees International, and Voice released a statement calling on senior U.S. government leaders to elevate the rights of Afghan women and girls as a matter of political priority. We also urged the U.S. government to mainstream the push for Afghan women’s and girls’ rights across U.S. foreign policy.”
UNHRC, Afghanistan: Taliban’s outrageous exclusion of women and girls from universities is disastrous for everyone, say UN experts, 21 December 2022
“GENEVA (21 December 2022) -- UN experts* today condemned in the strongest terms the latest decision of the Taliban that excludes women and girls from universities, a further violation of their human rights and the application of multiple irrational restrictions that may amount to gender persecution, a crime against humanity. Their statement is as follows: “Yesterday’s announcement of cabinet decision number 28 to immediately suspend until further notice women and girls from universities across the country is a flagrant violation of their human rights enshrined in multiple international treaties, to which Afghanistan is a signatoryand will lead to disastrous consequences for Afghans. We understand that only the Amir, Sheikh Haibatullah, and a handful of close advisers are seeking to deny education to women and girls beyond primary level, as was the situation that pertained when the Taliban were last in power in the 1990s. Most Afghans, including some Taliban, do not support the exclusion of women and girls from the education system, and are seriously concerned about the consequences for the whole nation. It is unparalleled globally and Afghan and other Islamic scholars say there is no religious or cultural justification for it. Denying women and girls their right to education will lead to significantly reduced opportunities for them, immense psychological impacts on their mental health, and poorer wellbeing. It will severely limit women’s access to economic opportunities and resources, which will have an adverse impact on their families, communities and the nation as a whole. Educating women and girls lays the foundation for women’s economic empowerment, and is fundamental to achieving gender equality. Without educated women, there will be fewer professionals to serve the population and take Afghanistan forward to prosperity. For example, without women doctors, women and girls will not receive adequate medical care as the de facto authorities restrict male physicians from treating women and girls. Without women teachers, who previously made up 82 per cent of the Ministry of Education staff, children’s learning will suffer. Without women lawyers, women and their families will not have equal access to justice. The intergenerational impacts of such a restriction will be profound and disastrous for Afghanistan. We urgently call on the de facto authorities to immediately restore access to education at all levels for women and girls and to instruct schools and universities across the country to immediately and unconditionally accept female students in all courses. We urge the Taliban to stop using women and girls’ safety as a pretext for imposing severe and disproportionate restrictions on them and instead address the root cause of violence and discrimination against women and girls – namely the behaviour and attitudes of men who view them inferior and subordinate to men and boys. The attempts by the Taliban to erase women and girls from all spheres of public life and to silence the voices of women and girls will likely have severe consequences on peace and security beyond Afghanistan. It is also a serious challenge to the United Nations’ women, peace and security agenda and to women’s rights and gender equality globally. We call on the international community to take a strong stand in defence of women everywhere and to adopt policies and judicial actions proportionate to the Taliban’s discriminatory actions whilst steadfastly supporting Afghan women to enjoy all their human rights, including the right of equal access to education at all levels.’’”
IRC, Afghanistan: Near-total ban on women’s education risks decades of progress, says IRC, 21 December 2022
“Kabul, Afghanistan, December 21, 2022 — As the Taliban declares the doors of universities closed to women and girls, the IRC warns that that decades of progress for women's education and freedom are being extinguished. Elinor Raikes, Vice President of International Programmes for the International Rescue Committee, said, “Since August last year, reports that girls were being turned away from schools across Afghanistan already represented a catastrophic step backwards for Afghanistan. The near-total ban on women’s university education sets progress back at least twenty years - with lifelong impacts on women’s futures. “The public role of women in Afghan society will shrink even further as authorities continue to issue edicts limiting their access to work, education and their freedom of movement. “There are no two ways about it: women and girls must be allowed to work, access education and to move freely. Efforts to rebuild Afghanistan in the wake of economic collapse will be undermined completely; many educated Afghans have already left the country over the last eighteen months. Afghanistan is in urgent need of a future generation of doctors, teachers, civil servants and much more. “In the last year alone, restrictions on access to work for women have furthered Afghanistan’s failing economy, producing an economic loss of up to $1bn - about 5% of Afghanistan’s GDP. If women are not educated, they will be unable to contribute to the survival of their country. “This year, the IRC is warning that the guardrails meant to prevent humanitarian crises from spiraling out of control are being weakened or dismantled completely. Afghanistan is a prime example of where this is an acute concern, and the population continues to be exposed to irrevocable harm.””
“The Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States and the High Representative of the European Union strongly condemn the Taliban’s recent decisions to ban women from universities, to continue to bar girls from secondary schools, and to impose other harsh restrictions on the ability of women and girls in Afghanistan to exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Taliban’s oppressive measures against Afghan girls and women have been relentless and systemic. Over the last 16 months, the Taliban have issued no fewer than 16 decrees and edicts that, among other things, constrain women’s mobility, remove women from places of work, require head-to-toe coverings for women, ban women from using public spaces such as parks and gyms and leave widows and women-headed households in dire circumstances by the requirement of male guardianship. These policies make clear the Taliban’s disregard for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Afghanistan. Afghan women’s ingenuity and dynamism are needed urgently to help relieve profound and staggering economic and humanitarian needs. A stable, economically viable, and peaceful Afghanistan is only attainable and sustainable if all Afghans, including women and girls, can fully, equally, and meaningfully participate in and contribute to the country’s future and development. We stand with all Afghans in their demand to exercise their human rights consistent with Afghanistan’s obligations under international law. With these moves, the Taliban are further isolating themselves from the Afghan population and the international community. We urge the Taliban to immediately abandon the new oppressive measures with respect to university education for women and girls and to, without delay, reverse the existing decision to prohibit girls’ access to secondary School. Taliban policies designed to erase women from public life will have consequences for how our countries engage with the Taliban. Our foremost concern will continue to be the welfare, rights, and freedoms of the people of Afghanistan.”
HRW, Afghan University Women Feared This Dark Day, 21 December 2022
“Taliban’s Ban on Women Attending Universities a Cruel Assault on Rights Sahar Fetrat Assistant Researcher, Women's Rights Division @Sahar_fetrat Last week, I spoke to 21-year-old Zarmina Ahadi, who had just completed her fourth semester at Kabul University. With the Taliban’s relentless crackdown on women’s rights, Zarmina and her female classmates feared there wouldn’t be a fifth semester for them as rumors circulated of a looming ban on women in universities. Zarmina said, “I’m afraid it’s the time – they’re coming after us now.” She was right.
On Tuesday, the Taliban announced a ban on women attending universities “until further notice,” a misleading use of language by the Taliban to dampen expected public and international outrage. But by now we know what that means. Going to university has been a fragile ray of hope that Zarmina and many young Afghan women like her have been holding on to; a glimmer of hope that quickly disappeared. Despite all the harassment, intimidation, restrictions, segregated classrooms, financial difficulties, and imposed dress codes, Zarmina and her classmates persisted. “We’ve worked hard to convince our families, wore full black hijabs, and compromised our freedom of choice just to keep university doors open for women,” she said. “We have accepted the harsh circumstances, and tried to work with what we have, but it’s not on us anymore – it’s the Taliban who must learn to behave.” However, the Taliban don’t seem very interested in change. The Taliban’s attitude toward women and girls’ education has now kept teenage girls out of school for 457 days. While the new ban is a shamelessly misogynistic addition, the education cycle was already broken when the Taliban banned teenage girls from secondary school. This ensured there would be no high school graduates in the coming years and therefore no universities for women. Such harm runs deep and is hard to undo. The Taliban need to immediately reverse their ban on women in universities and reopen secondary schools for Afghan girls. Afghanistan’s donor countries and the international community should speak assertively to the Taliban about the lasting harm such decisions have not only for women and girls, but for all Afghans. Zarmina and others should not have to wait “until further notice.””
Save the Children, Save the Children response to Taliban female university student ban, 21 December 2022
“21 December 2022 - Following the news that the Taliban have announced a ban on female students attending university in Afghanistan, Shaheen Chughtai, acting Regional Director for Asia at Save the Children, said: "Suspending university classes for women until further notice is another cruel blow to the aspirations of girls across Afghanistan. "While the UN Security Council was meeting yesterday, the rights of Afghan women and girls were being further eroded. This decision, and the continuing ban on secondary education for girls, must be reversed immediately."”
NRC, Afghanistan: NRC appalled by the closing of universities for women, 21 December 2022
“Statement by Neil Turner, Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) country director in Afghanistan on the de-facto authorities’ announcement to end women’s access to university education: "We condemn this new attack on women and girls’ right to education in Afghanistan. Closing universities to women is a giant step in the wrong direction that will devastate their futures and the future of the country. We call on the Taliban authorities to immediately lift this and other restrictions on access to education. “Afghanistan has for decades been one of the most challenging countries in which to receive an education – for both boys and girls. To allow the country to prosper and move forward, the Taliban authorities must accept responsibility for the entire population. “At the same time, we call on the international community to maintain humanitarian assistance – including funding for education – to ensure that there is no collective punishment of students and vulnerable communities because of the actions of the Taliban.””
UNICEF, Afghanistan: Taliban’s outrageous exclusion of women and girls from universities is disastrous for everyone, say UN experts, 21 December 2022
““Yesterday’s announcement of cabinet decision number 28 to immediately suspend until further notice women and girls from universities across the country is a flagrant violation of their human rights enshrined in multiple international treaties, to which Afghanistan is a signatoryand will lead to disastrous consequences for Afghans. We understand that only the Amir, Sheikh Haibatullah, and a handful of close advisers are seeking to deny education to women and girls beyond primary level, as was the situation that pertained when the Taliban were last in power in the 1990s. Most Afghans, including some Taliban, do not support the exclusion of women and girls from the education system, and are seriously concerned about the consequences for the whole nation. It is unparalleled globally and Afghan and other Islamic scholars say there is no religious or cultural justification for it. Denying women and girls their right to education will lead to significantly reduced opportunities for them, immense psychological impacts on their mental health, and poorer wellbeing. It will severely limit women’s access to economic opportunities and resources, which will have an adverse impact on their families, communities and the nation as a whole. Educating women and girls lays the foundation for women’s economic empowerment, and is fundamental to achieving gender equality. Without educated women, there will be fewer professionals to serve the population and take Afghanistan forward to prosperity. For example, without women doctors, women and girls will not receive adequate medical care as the de facto authorities restrict male physicians from treating women and girls.
Without women teachers, who previously made up 82 per cent of the Ministry of Education staff, children’s learning will suffer. Without women lawyers, women and their families will not have equal access to justice. The intergenerational impacts of such a restriction will be profound and disastrous for Afghanistan. We urgently call on the de facto authorities to immediately restore access to education at all levels for women and girls and to instruct schools and universities across the country to immediately and unconditionally accept female students in all courses. We urge the Taliban to stop using women and girls’ safety as a pretext for imposing severe and disproportionate restrictions on them and instead address the root cause of violence and discrimination against women and girls – namely the behaviour and attitudes of men who view them inferior and subordinate to men and boys. The attempts by the Taliban to erase women and girls from all spheres of public life and to silence the voices of women and girls will likely have severe consequences on peace and security beyond Afghanistan. It is also a serious challenge to the United Nations’ women, peace and security agenda and to women’s rights and gender equality globally. We call on the international community to take a strong stand in defence of women everywhere and to adopt policies and judicial actions proportionate to the Taliban’s discriminatory actions whilst steadfastly supporting Afghan women to enjoy all their human rights, including the right of equal access to education at all levels.’’ ENDS”
UNAMA, UN in Afghanistan condemns Taliban decision to suspend women from universities and calls for its immediate reversal, 21 December 2022
“KABUL – The UN family and the entire humanitarian community in Afghanistan share the outrage of millions of Afghans and the international community over the decision by the Taliban de facto authorities to close universities to female students across the country until further notice and calls on the de facto authorities to immediately revoke the decision. The UN and its humanitarian partners also urge the de facto authorities to reopen girls' schools beyond the sixth grade and end all measures preventing women and girls from participating fully in daily public life. Banning women from attending university is a continuation of the systematic policies of targeted discrimination put in place by the Taliban against women. Since 15 August 2021, the de facto authorities have barred girls from attending secondary school, restricted women and girls’ freedom of movement, excluded women from most areas of the workforce and banned women from using parks, gyms and public bath houses. These restrictions culminate with the confinement of Afghan women and girls to the four walls of their homes.
Preventing half of the population from contributing meaningfully to society and the economy will have a devastating impact on the whole country. It will expose Afghanistan to further international isolation, economic hardship and suffering, impacting millions for years to come. The UN estimates that restricting women from working can result in an economic loss of up to $1 billion – or up to five percent of the country’s GDP. The ban of women from universities, including female teachers and professors, will contribute to additional economic losses. Education is a basic human right. Excluding women and girls from secondary and tertiary education not only denies them this right, it denies Afghan society as a whole the benefit of the contributions that women and girls have to offer. It denies all of Afghanistan a future. The steps taken by the de facto authorities to exclude women and girls from education, the workplace and other areas of life increase risks of forced and underage marriage, violence and abuse.
Continued discrimination against more than half the population of the country will stand in the way of Afghanistan achieving an inclusive society where everyone can live in dignity and enjoy equal opportunities. The UN in Afghanistan and its humanitarian partners remind the Taliban that taking away the free will of women to choose their own fate, disempowering and excluding them systematically from all aspects of their public and political life is regressive and stands against universal human rights standards upon which peaceful and stable societies are based on. This decision will be a negative factor for Afghans abroad considering to return and force more to flee the country.”
UNOHCHR, Comment by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on reported ban on women attending university in Afghanistan, 21 December 2022
“The reported decision by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to ban women from attending university is another appalling and cruel blow to the rights of Afghan women and girls and a deeply regrettable setback for the entire country. The systematic exclusion of women and girls from virtually all aspects of life, as I have noted before, is unparalleled in the world. To exclude women from tertiary education is all the more heart-breaking considering the vital contribution Afghan women have made in so many professional and vocational areas over the years. Coming on top of girls being barred from attending secondary school, just think of all the female doctors, lawyers and teachers who have been, and who will be, lost to the development of the country. The suspension of women’s participation in tertiary and higher education is in clear violation of Afghanistan’s obligations under international law. The rights of women and girls to access all levels of education without discrimination is fundamental and unquestionable. I call on the Afghan de facto authorities immediately to reverse this decision and to fully respect and facilitate the right of women and girls to access education at all levels. For their sake and for the sake of the whole of Afghan society.”
UNAMA, Statement of UN Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of UNAMA Roza Otunbayeva - on Taliban Banning Women from Universities, 20 December 2022
“I am very saddened by the news that was widely reported this morning that the Taliban Minister of Higher Education has banned women from attending universities. This is detrimental for women but also for Afghanistan more widely. As I said earlier, this decision, if true, is devastating. I briefed the Council this morning on a number of human rights concerns that we have expressed to the Taliban de facto authorities. Ever since the Taliban banned girls’ secondary education in March of this year the Council has been unanimous in condemning this decision. So many young women lost the whole academic year and now another harsh decision has been taken to ban university education. I regret that the Taliban do not seem to think about the future of Afghanistan and how women can contribute to the economy, education, and culture. We are seeking further information and clarifications about this decision and will say more when we have more information.”
“The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres: The Secretary-General is deeply alarmed by news reports that the Taliban have suspended access to universities to women and girls. The Secretary-General reiterates that the denial of education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls, but will have a devastating impact on the country’s future. The Secretary-General urges the de facto authorities to ensure equal access to education at all levels for women and girls.”
UNAMA, STATEMENT OF UN SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR AFGHANISTAN AND HEAD OF UNAMA ROZA OTUNBAYEVA - ON TALIBAN BANNING WOMEN FROM UNIVERSITIES, 20 December 2022
“I am very saddened by the news that was widely reported this morning that the Taliban Minister of Higher Education has banned women from attending universities. This is detrimental for women but also for Afghanistan more widely. As I said earlier, this decision, if true, is devastating. I briefed the Council this morning on a number of human rights concerns that we have expressed to the Taliban de facto authorities. Ever since the Taliban banned girls’ secondary education in March of this year the Council has been unanimous in condemning this decision. So many young women lost the whole academic year and now another harsh decision has been taken to ban university education. I regret that the Taliban do not seem to think about the future of Afghanistan and how women can contribute to the economy, education, and culture. We are seeking further information and clarifications about this decision and will say more when we have more information.”
UNAMA, STATEMENT ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE SPOKESPERSON OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL – ON AFGHANISTAN, 20 December 2022
“The Secretary-General is deeply alarmed by news reports that the Taliban have suspended access to universities to women and girls. The Secretary-General reiterates that the denial of education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls, but will have a devastating impact on the country’s future. The Secretary-General urges the de facto authorities to ensure equal access to education at all levels for women and girls.”
UNOCHA, Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths Statement for the Security Council Briefing on the Humanitarian Situation in Afghanistan, 20 December 2022
“[…] 1.1 million teenage girls remain banned from school.”
OIC, OIC Secretary General Calls for more Constructive Engagement with De facto Government in Afghanistan to Support Girls’ Education, 8 December 2022
“The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), H.E. Hissein Brahim Taha stressed that women’s right to education is not just a full-fledged right on its own; it is indeed a critical component for development, peace, stability and the fulfilment of human rights in their broadest sense . In a statement delivered in his name by Ambassador Tarig Ali Bakheet, OIC Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian, Social, and Cultural Affairs, at the International Conference on Afghan Women's Education, held in Bali, Indonesia, on 8 December 2022, the Secretary General called for more constructive engagement with the de facto administration in Afghanistan to support girls’ education. Secretary General Taha emphasized that the OIC remains, as it has unwaveringly been, willing and ready to engage constructively with its partners in a concerted effort to help Afghanistan recover, reconstruct, and retrieve its long-lost standing as a well- functioning state within the international community.”
UNICEF, Humanitarian Action for Children 2023 – Afghanistan, 6 December 2022
“Afghan women and girls are facing a systematic rights crisis. Their exclusion from secondary education and the workforce – and the imposition of rules governing their daily lives – has significantly increased their protection risks. The impacts will be felt for generations to come.”
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Afghan women want dialogue to ensure basic rights, 18 November 2022
“In Kunduz, women called on the de facto authorities to follow the example of other Islamic states which allow education for women and girls of all ages. And, in Herat, they highlighted that before Afghanistan’s political changes in August 2021, women had been active in peace education in the western city and remote districts working for the prevention of violence within tribes, communities and families operating under a protective legal framework and in cooperation with dedicated institutions to facilitate women’s engagement. In the current context, “gender discrimination against women and their exclusion from decision-making mechanisms is systematic”, they stressed.”
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), Regional Overview: South Asia and Afghanistan 29 October-4 November 2022, 10 November 2022
“[O]ngoing Taliban restrictions targeting the education of women and girls triggered several demonstrations last week. In Kabul city, women gathered to protest the Taliban’s school ban for girls above sixth grade, which has been in place for over 400 days (TOLO News, 29 October 2022). In Badakhshan province, the Taliban reportedly attacked a group of female students entering a university in Faiz Abad city because they were not fully covering their faces. Following the incident, women held a protest to condemn the Taliban. The Taliban dispersed the demonstrations and arrested some demonstrating students. ACLED records an uptick in demonstrations featuring women since an unidentified militant killed dozens of Hazara school girls during a suicide bombing in Kabul on 30 September.”
UNHCR, Afghanistan: UNHCR Operational update - September 2022, 7 November 2022
“Education for women and girls remains restricted since the change of political leadership in Afghanistan in August 2021. Girls above Grade 6 are not allowed to enrol in school. This requires continuous advocacy efforts to help the girls resume their learning. There is also a need to ensure that the existing education systems are fully-funded to include support towards teacher and staff salaries – and ensuring appropriate measures that guarantee service continuity. UNHCR will continue mobilizing resources to the extent possible, to address some of these gaps as part of its protection interventions.”
EUAA, EUAA COI Query Response - Afghanistan - Major legislative, security-related, and humanitarian developments, 6 November 2022
“Ahead of the university entrance exams in October 2022, the Taliban announced that women will only be able to choose certain academic fields for public university studies. A spokesman for the Taliban Ministry of Higher Education stated that subjects not necessary for women will not be introduced, but he did not specify the concerned fields”
“women may take courses in medicine, nursing, teaching, and Islamic studies in all provinces, while veterinary science, engineering, economics and agriculture appear not to be options of choice” “In Mazar-e Sharif shopkeepers were ordered not to sell to women without hijab”
“One local media report claimed that the Taliban in Badakhshan had announced that wearing burqa or niqab is compulsory for women. In a previous national decree, women have been instructed to cover their faces13, but Taliban officials stated that the decrees were not compulsory.14 Another local media report stated that shopkeepers in Mazar-e Sharif had been ordered to close their shops during prayers and attend them. 15 Moreover, a media report claimed that the Taliban in Kandahar had ordered male teachers and high-school students to pledge in writing that they will conform with the Taliban’s interpretation of sharia, including traditional Afghan dress codes for men and growing a beard. Failure to sign or adhere to the pledge could lead to students and teachers being dismissed.”
The New Humanitarian, In Afghanistan, a drive to continue education – and confront the Taliban, 3 November 2022
“On 30 October, video footage surfaced on social media showing female students in the northern province of Badakhshan being forcibly denied entry into the university after allegedly failing to comply with the Taliban’s edicts on proper attire for women in the country. There is hope, though. Every time the Taliban places a new barrier, the people stand up and speak out. In recent months, elders in Paktia, Badghis, Kandahar, Faryab, Uruzgan and Parwan provinces have called for girls’ high schools to be reopened. In the southwestern province of Farah, where at least 800 students took this year’s college entrance exam, officials are discussing plans that would lead to the re-opening of high school for girls. The provincial education department said it is sorting out a system to offer free transportation to all female students, which they say would allow for adolescent girls to return to school. Women in the eastern province of Nangarhar also held a demonstration decrying the attack on the Kabul testing site and calling for the re- opening of schools last month.”
AAN, The Daily Hustle: One young woman’s journey to an English course in Kabul, 15 October 2022
“For many Afghans the first year of Taleban rule was marked by uncertainty and anxiety over the country’s sudden change in fortunes. Virtually every area of daily life, from banking and shopping to travelling around the country to marriage celebrations has been affected. We wanted to find out from a variety of people how an aspect of their daily life had changed and how they were negotiating this changed landscape. In this first instalment of a new series, AAN guest author, Rama Mirzada, writes about what it has been like for her, a young woman, to overcome her fears, and the anxiety of her family, at her leaving the house to enrol in an English language course. […] We continue to arrive every morning on a campus segregated by gender. Although there are no male students in the building when female classes are in session – except for the instructors and university staff, who are mostly male – female students must leave the campus immediately after their classes end. Coaxed by the guards to make haste and vacate the premises, we make way for male students to enter the campus 30 minutes after our classes are dismissed. This doesn’t leave much time for us to get to know our classmates or have side conversations outside the classroom. But, for now, sharing space in a classroom where we can learn together is enough.”
TNH – The New Humanitarian (formerly IRIN News), Meet the Afghans determined to give women and girls an education, 3 October 2022
“The dangers for women and girls pursuing an education in Afghanistan were made horrifically clear in a 30 September suicide attack on a school in western Kabul: At least 38 people were killed and another 82 wounded as they took mock university entrance exams – most of the casualties were young women and girls. Despite the risks and the restrictions, some Afghans are doing whatever they can to try and address the soaring needs within their communities, including education. In her northern Kabul neighbourhood, Fatema Noori told The New Humanitarian how suffering has intensified as a growing humanitarian crisis has gripped sanctions-hit Afghanistan, with both government assistance and international aid drying up.”
The Guardian, Taliban beat women protesting against school bombing, say witnesses, 2 October 2022
“Women protesting against the suicide bombing of a school in Afghanistan, which killed 35 young Hazara women and girls on Friday, have been beaten and shot at by Taliban according to witnesses. Dozens of women from the Hazara community protested against the attack on the Kaaj educational centre in Dasht-e-Barchi, a neighbourhood home to the Shia Hazara community in western Kabul. Those who died in the attack were mostly Hazara women aged between 18 to 24 years who had been preparing for an exam. Women who gathered to demonstrate against the killings on Friday said Taliban forces opened fire and used physical violence to break up the protest minutes after it had started. […] “We were marching together and chanting for justice for our Hazara sisters who were murdered yesterday. This is a genocide of the Hazaras and all we want is education and freedom,” said one Hazara woman. “The Taliban will never protect us and they can’t represent us in the international community. They attacked us with the edge of their guns and beat us up. I am still in pain as I speak.” “The Talib sprayed pepper spray in our eyes, whipped us and humiliated us by calling us prostitutes who take money from the west to protest,” said another protester who did not want to be named. No group has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, but the Hazara community is increasingly coming under attack by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan according to human rights groups. Public anger about the attack has intensified over the weekend, with protests spreading to Bamyan and Herat provinces. Hundreds of women marched from Herat University on Sunday morning demanding their right to education and safety for Hazaras. Witnesses confirmed that Taliban shot repeatedly at the women, with one of them grabbing a protester by her headscarf and pushing her to the ground.”
Ariana News, Some girls’ high schools in eastern Afghanistan reopen, 7 September 2022
“Authorities in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Paktia said girls’ high schools had opened in recent days, though the move had not been officially approved.”
Aljazeera, Taliban official says Islam grants women right to education and work, 31 August 2022
“A Taliban official has said that Islam grants women the right to education, work, and entrepreneurship, and reiterated that the group is working to create a so-called “safe environment” for girls and women in secondary schools and the workplace.
“I must say that Islam has given women the right to education, Islam has given women the right to work, Islam has given women the right to entrepreneurship […] if Islam has allowed it, who am I to ban it.” [quote by Taliban spokesperson of the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, Sadeq Akif Muhajir]
“The comments by Muhajir came more than a year after the armed group took over the country and imposed
several limitations on women’s freedoms, including a ban on secondary education for girls.
Since returning to power, the Taliban has among other things, shut down girls’ secondary schools across the country, ordered women to wear hijabs in the workplace and to cover their faces in public, and has banned women from travelling long distanced without a close male relative.”
“But a study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) this year found that Afghan women’s employment levels fell by an estimated 16 percent in the months immediately following the Taliban takeover. In contrast, male employment dropped by 6 percent. ‘In the pessimistic scenario in which restrictions intensify and women do not feel they can safely show up at their workplaces, the scale of job losses for women could reach 28 percent,’ the report said.
Working Afghan women have previously told Al Jazeera that while the Taliban has not directly fired female government employees, it has restricted women from entering workplaces and has paid them a notably reduced salary to remain at home.”
“The Taliban’s return to power has exacerbated Afghanistan’s economic woes. The country has been reeling from a humanitarian crisis with more than half of the population facing hunger.
The Western-imposed sanctions and the freezing of nearly $10bn in Afghan central bank assets by the US have
largely contributed to the collapse of the economy.”
Tolo News, Girls Continue Education Amidst Schools Closure, 20 August 2022
“Girls from secondary schools who have been banned by the Islamic Emirate to attend their classes have continued
their education in personal levels, at home and with their classmates, as some students described.
However, the girls said they are not sure about having a promising future due to being away from schooling.”
Khaama Press, Taliban’s ‘Cohesiveness’ Precedence over Reopening Girls’ Schools in Afghanistan, 18 August 2022 “Human Rights Watch says that since the Taliban stated that the group has not established a “consensus” and that the Taliban’s “cohesiveness” is a priority to the group before reopening schools, it has become blatantly obvious that the Taliban will not be reopening girls’ schools “anytime soon.” Heather Barr, Associate Director of the Women’s Right Division at Human Rights, stated in a tweet on Thursday, August 18, that the international community must stop waiting and act on this “reality”. In her note on Twitter, Human Rights Watch official, Barr, wrote that the international community must take immediate action to provide girls with alternatives to their education as well as put travel restrictions and other sanctions against Taliban officials.”
Jurist, Afghanistan dispatch: ‘In the final weeks of my bachelor’s degree, I was studying law, but there was no rule of law, no freedom, and no law.’, 18 August 2022
“Law students and lawyers in Afghanistan are filing reports with JURIST on the situation that has developed there since the Taliban takeover. Here, our correspondent, a now-graduated law student, reflects on her academic, professional and personal circumstances before and after the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021. […] On August 15th, I lost my future, my dreams, the best version of myself in the near future, my favorite path and my peace. After that day, I was deprived of the chance of going to university; I couldn’t follow my French and English classes; I wasn’t able to take French and English exams; I couldn’t participate in national and international competitions; I was deprived of the opportunity to get internships; I was deprived of serving my country. After that day, I was obliged to stay at home, to forget myself, to leave my dreams, On that dark day, I lost my freedom. […] A gender separation plan was imposed and the male professors weren’t allowed to teach girls; the enter and exit times were fixed and no one could go out or into the university outside of the fixed times; wearing colorful dresses was forbidden; even taking a photo was forbidden for girls at university. Taliban forces were entering the faculties randomly with their guns to control the application of their ridiculous plans at university; university student associations were dissolved by the Taliban; the pictures of distinguished female professors and students were removed from the walls of faculties. The learning clubs have stopped their activities by the force of the Taliban, and the most important thing is that there was no rule of law in the faculty founded on the Rule of Law. […] This is a very small part of my life under the rule of the Taliban. I’m not the person that I was hoping to be before August 15th. The Taliban broke my path.”
Human Rights Watch, Afghan Women and Western Intervention: A Conversation, 17 August 2022
“Girls are banned from secondary education in the vast majority of Afghanistan’s provinces. Women are banned from most employment. Women in universities face harsh new restrictions. Many female teachers have been dismissed. The policy of requiring a mahram, a male family member chaperone, to accompany any woman leaving her home, has not been officially stated, but Taliban officials on the street are often enforcing it, as well as harassing women about their clothing. Rules requiring women to have a mahram with them have been imposed for women travelling long distances or leaving the country. The Taliban have ordered women to cover their faces in public, including women journalists reporting on television. Since taking over Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have systematically dismantled the system designed to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, including closing almost all shelters for women and girls. Women’s sports are banned and there are new barriers to women obtaining health care. The Taliban appointed an all-male cabinet. They abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and handed over the building to the reinstated Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the
Prevention of Vice, responsible for some of the worst abuses against women during the Taliban’s previous time in
power, from 1996 to 2001.”
Jurist.org, UN expert, Amnesty International condemn Taliban crackdown on women’s rights protest, 14 August 2022
“Around 40 female protesters marched in front of the Afghan Ministry of Education to mark the one-year
anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover of the country. The protesters chanted slogans such as “bread, work, and freedom,” “we want political participation” and “no to enslavement.” To disperse the protesters, the Taliban
opened fired in the air, and it has been reported that some protesters and journalists were beaten, and phones as well as cameras were seized. Several journalists were detained, out of whom at least three were still in custody as of Saturday evening. It is not known if any protesters were also detained…[T]he Taliban is reported to have assaulted and detained women’s rights protesters incommunicado previously.” “Since August 15 last year, Afghanistan has gained the status of the only country in the world that has a ban on girls’ secondary education, and women must wear a burqa, are not allowed to travel long distances without a male companion or work in most government jobs. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs was replaced with the “Ministry for Preaching and Guidance” in September, and in May this year, Taliban authorities dissolved the country’s Human Rights
Commission, calling it “unnecessary.””
UNICEF, Depriving girls of secondary education translates to a loss of at least US$500 million for Afghan economy in last 12 months, 14 August 2022
“New analysis by UNICEF has found that depriving girls in Afghanistan of their right to secondary education will have a devastating effect on the country’s economy. Keeping girls out of secondary school costs Afghanistan 2.5 per cent of its annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a new analysis by UNICEF.
If the current cohort of three million girls were able to complete their secondary education and participate in the
job market, girls and women would contribute at least US$5.4 billion to Afghanistan’s economy.
UNICEF’s estimates do not take into account the non-financial impacts of denying girls access to education, such as upcoming shortages of female teachers, doctors and nurses, the ensuing impact on decreasing attendance for girls in primary school and increasing health costs related to adolescent pregnancy. The estimates also do not account for the broader benefits of education, including overall educational attainment, reduced child marriage and reduced infant mortality.
“The decision on March 23, not to allow girls back to secondary school was shocking and deeply disappointing," said UNICEF Afghanistan Representative, Dr. Mohamed Ayoya. "Not only does it violate girls’ fundamental right to education, it exposes them to heightened anxiety, and greater risk of exploitation and abuse, including child trafficking, early and forced marriage. Now, this new analysis clearly articulates the terrible economic impact of this decision on the country’s GDP.”
Even before the Taliban seized power on August 15 last year, Afghanistan struggled with over 4.2 million children out of school; 60 per cent of whom were girls. Although the potential costs of not educating boys and girls alike are
high in terms of lost earnings, not educating girls is especially costly because of the relationship between educational attainment and girls delaying marriage and childbearing, participating in the workforce, making choices about their own future and investing more in the health and education of their own children later in life. The analysis indicates that Afghanistan will be unable to regain the GDP lost during the transition and reach its true potential productivity without fulfilling girls' rights to access and complete secondary school education. [...]
Child malnutrition is also increasing. In June 2021, 30,000 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition in Afghanistan; in June 2022, 57,000 children were admitted -- a 90 per cent increase. Children are being obliged to work to support their families instead of going to school which is the safest place they could be. [...]”
Gandhara, Afghan Girls’ lives ‘shattered’ since return of Taliban, says new report, 10 August 2022
“A humanitarian group says that one year into the return to power of the Taliban, Afghan girls have been confronted with a grave economic crisis, a crippling drought, and new restrictions that have shattered their lives, excluding them from society and leaving them hungry.
As a result, a quarter of Afghan girls are showing signs of depression, Save the Children said in a new report on August 10.
The report, titled Breaking Point: Life For Children One Year Since The Taliban Takeover, found that a whopping 97 percent of families are struggling to provide enough food for their children and almost 80 percent of children said they had gone to bed hungry in the past month.
Girls were almost twice as likely as boys to frequently go to bed hungry, and eat less in general.
Hunger is affecting children's health and development, with 90 percent of the girls saying that less and less food over the past year caused them to lose weight and lack energy to work or even play.
The girls’ mental and psychosocial well-being has also been endangered seriously, the report said.
According to the research for the report, 26 percent of girls are showing signs of depression compared with 16 percent of boys, while 27 percent of girls are presenting symptoms of anxiety compared with 18 percent of boys. […]
Furthermore, since the militant group's return to power, thousands of secondary school girls were ordered to stay home, reversing years of progress for gender equality.
Girls interviewed by Save the Children expressed disappointment and anger over the fact that they can no longer go to school and said they felt hopeless about their future because they don’t have the rights and freedoms they had previously.
More than 45 percent of the girls interviewed by the humanitarian group said they’re not attending school,
compared with 20 percent of boys.
“Life is dire for children in Afghanistan, one year since the Taliban took control. Children are going to bed hungry night after night. They’re exhausted and wasting away, unable to play and study like they used to," said Chris Nyamandi, Save the Children's Country Director in Afghanistan.
“Girls are bearing the brunt of the deteriorating situation. They’re missing more meals, suffering from isolation and emotional distress, and are staying home while boys go to school. This is a humanitarian crisis, but also a child rights catastrophe," Nyamandi said.”
Afghan witness, Afghanistan education sector under the Taliban, 16 August 2022
“Closure of girls’ secondary schools and Taliban U-turn
So far, the most defining event of the Taliban’s return to power has been their move to close secondary schools for girls, which has drawn global condemnation. After months of promises, on March 21, the hopes of teenage girls were briefly raised when the Taliban leadership announced that high schools would reopen for all students on March 23.
On the morning of March 23, as girls in various locations around the country prepared to attend their first classes in months, the Ministry of Education backtracked on their decision, announcing that all girls’ secondary schools – beyond grade 6 – would remain closed indefinitely until a policy was formulated in accordance with “Sharia and Afghan” culture.
The U-turn on girls’ schools made global headlines, with images of girls in tears circulated on social media. One tenth grade student Afghan Witness (AW) recently spoke to described it as “the most bitter experience of my life”.
Over the following days, many protests erupted around the country and abroad, and, in response to the restrictions, alternative methods of learning and teaching have also been established. Some girls have turned to online schooling, however, an online teacher we recently spoke to raised the issue of a lack of internet access for girls in remote areas. Some private centres have reportedly continued operating, while there have also been
reports of ‘secret schools’ set-up behind closed doors.
Organisations such as Pen Path claim to have arranged secret and online schools for 5,300 girls in Afghanistan, while the Yalda Hakim Foundation, which also provides education opportunities for Afghan girls, has been counting each day the schools are closed in a bid to raise awareness of the situation.
At the end of May, it was reported on social media that some girls’ schools had started to reopen enforcing the hijab decree. On May 23, images circulated on Twitter showing girls on their way to school in Balkh, fully covered. […]
Despite the reopening of some girls’ high schools, the majority remain closed, and there has been no indication of when they will reopen. In mid-July, a fake Ministry of Education press release made international headlines after claiming that girls’ schools would reopen imminently, but was later denounced as false by several Taliban-linked Twitter accounts.
Some Taliban officials have hinted at the negative effects of the closure of girls’ schools in the long-run, and experts and rights groups suggest a likelihood of “deep divisions” on the issue. At the beginning of August, Maulawi Ahmed Taqi, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education, pointed out that restrictions on girls’ high schools will become a de facto ban on university degrees for women if it stays in place.
“Automatically if we do not have high school graduates, we won’t have new female university students anymore,” Taqi said, adding that he is “hopeful” the Ministry of Education will reopen the schools soon.
[…]
The restrictions imposed upon women more broadly have also posed further obstacles to female students and higher education staff. In December, a decree issued by the Taliban's Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, announced that women travelling for more than 45 miles (72km) should be accompanied by a close male family member. In February, female students told Rukhshana media that they are not allowed to travel without a Muharram (male guardian) and cannot attend university in other provinces as a result of the restriction.
In May, a Taliban decree ordered women to cover their bodies and faces in public – a move that was seen as a
return to the group’s signature policy of the 1990s. The extent to which these regulations have been enforced is not clear, but following the announcement of the hijab decree, several news outlets reported incidents where female university students were allegedly beaten or denied entry for wearing colourful clothes or the "wrong" type of covering.
On May 18, it was reported that female students were denied entrance to the Kabul Education University, also known as Shahid Rabbani Education University, for wearing colourful headscarves.
University students in multiple provinces who AW spoke to in March raised similar issues. One student in Balkh University says she and classmates heard a girl “screaming loudly” while being “punished for not complying with the authorities' rules on hijab.” Another student in Kabul says Taliban authorities often warned students through their department and faculty officials that if they did not observe “full hijab”, they would close the universities to female students again, while a student from Samangan University told us students were instructed by Taliban authorities to wear long black robes, completely cover their faces – including eyes – and not wear high heels and colourful clothing.
Staff face restrictions, reports of Taliban controlling hiring process
While experts say Afghanistan is already facing a brain drain, the staff shortage has been exacerbated by the segregation of male and female students and staff, as classes must now be taught twice. Although there is an obvious need for new staff members, the Taliban appear to be taking measures to ensure the values of staff align with their own. According to reports, the Taliban have made it compulsory for private universities to request permission before hiring new professors and have urged higher education institutes to “seriously examine the professors’ past” and prevent the promotion of the current members of staff who don’t fit their ideals.
[…]
The Taliban have also reportedly dismissed dozens of university professors, mainly targeting ethnic minorities. A report in April claimed that Abdullah Safi, the Taliban representative at Balkh University, terminated the employment of 50 professors at the university based on their ethnicity. A list containing the names of all the dismissed faculty members was also shared by a journalist on Twitter, and an AW source – a civil activist in Balkh – confirmed the news.
In extreme circumstances, violence against staff has also been reported. There have been several reports of professors and teachers being detained by the Taliban, including the high profile case of Ustad Faizullah Jalal, a professor at Kabul University, who was arrested in January after allegedly publicly criticising the Taliban on Twitter and television. There have been numerous other reports of professors and teachers being arrested for their alleged criticisms of the Taliban, or in some cases, alleged affiliations with the National Resistant Front.
While these cases relate to male staff, female lecturers have faced similar restrictions to their students, and have reportedly been prevented from participating in scientific conferences with their male counterparts. Despite the Taliban’s rules on gender segregation in universities, in some cases, male lecturers still teach female students due to the shortage of female academic staff – a result of many professors leaving the country. According to a BBC report in February, since the takeover, 229 lecturers from the three major universities of Balkh, Herat and Kabul left the country – with 112 resigning from Kabul university alone.
[…]
Removal of Farsi from Balkh University sign
Other examples of the Taliban’s management of educational institutes include reports of the Taliban removing the Farsi words from the Balkh University sign, in what has been described as part of an “anti-Farsi sentiment”. In a news article by Paik Aftab, one unnamed student pointed out that even though the Taliban claim to have an issue with all foreign languages and are not targeting those who speak Farsi specifically, they did not erase the English from the sign – only the Farsi.”
The National News, How the Taliban has rolled back civil rights after a year in control of Afghanistan, 10 August 2022
“ In the early months after their takeover of Afghanistan last year, the Taliban appeared to have turned over a new leaf, making surprising statements that seemed to support gender equality and education for women. […] In March, the Taliban officially announced high schools would remain closed until a plan was created to allow them to re-open in accordance with “Islamic law and teachings”. They are still yet to re-open, a year after the takeover. […] On employment, the Taliban made similar promises of allowing women to continue in the workplace.
However, soon after their takeover, they said those steps would need to wait until women could work in what they considered a safe environment. “In Afghanistan, 20 years of progress towards enhanced protection and promotion of women’s rights was rolled back overnight,” Amnesty International said in a recent report. […] “The Taliban have made it very difficult and expensive for offices to hire women. For instance, they order that there should be gender-segregated spaces for women to work, there is no support within departments for women, and women should not be allowed without a mahram (male guardian),” an Afghan woman told The National in May. “Added to that, women aren’t allowed to represent the organisation in meetings, or conduct outdoor activities such as purchasing and processing documents. So you can see why an organisation will not want to hire women.”[…] Protests against the Taliban’s oppressive views on education and other issues were met with violence, including live ammunition, tear gas and physical beating and lashing of protesters. Under the new government, there are no women in the cabinet and the Ministry of Women's Affairs was shut down. […] In May, the Taliban officially announced that a dress code of sorts will be mandatory for women. “They should wear a chadori [head-to-toe burqa] as it is traditional and respectful,” Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada said.”
TOLO News, Girls' Schools Closed for 'Religious Issues': Mujahid, 10 August 2022
“Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that the schools for female students are closed for religious issues and that there is a need for agreement of Islamic scholars on this matter. […]“If (we) were acting on Pakistan’s instruction, the problems of the schools and other problems would have already been solved. This is a religious issue and it needs Islamic cleric’s agreement,” Mujahid said.”
TOLO News, Officials: Girls’ Schools Closed Due to 'Cultural Constraints', 8 August 2022
“During his visit to the province of Khost, Noorullah Munir, the acting minister of education, stated that girls' schools had been shut down due to cultural constraints. He expressed his hope that the Islamic Emirate's leaders and the elders would agree to reopen girls' schools. […] Munir denies reports that the closure of the girls' schools was caused by the change in the curriculum. He said that the Afghan curriculum has issues and that there is
currently no plan to change it.”
TOLO News, Karzai Voices Concerns Over Closed Girls' Schools, 6 August 2022
“Former President Hamid Karzai expressed concerns over the closure of girls' schools, saying that the decision to close the schools for female students in grade 7-12 is not based on Islamic values but is made based on Pakistan’s order. He made the remarks in an interview with Der Spiegel.Karzai said that depriving girls from education means an isolated Afghanistan which will not be able to stand on its own feet.
The National, Life under Taliban cages Afghan women and girls, former human rights chief says, 3 August 2022 “The futures of millions of Afghan women have been stolen by repressive Taliban policies, resulting in a mental health crisis, the former head of Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission has said. In the year since the extremist group took over Afghanistan it has imposed movement restrictions, draconian dress codes and effective education bans on women and girls. […]
She said many talented Afghan women and girls are today sitting idle in their homes. For them, it feels as if time has stood still. “They feel like they're forgetting what they had learnt in school. They are bored and unhappy at home. They feel like the world is moving ahead, and they're completely left behind,” Ms Akbar said. […]
The hardline rulers have banned girls from joining secondary schools in almost all provinces. “When I talk to women and girls in Afghanistan today, they say they feel that they are trapped in a cage of four walls, the walls of the house. They feel that they are being treated like animals in a zoo. There’s a real sense of attack on their dignity,” Ms Akbar said. And there are real concerns about their deteriorating mental health amid reports of attempted suicides. “These young women once had a lot of ambitions. Suddenly, they feel their life is over. The only path for them is to get married and have children, not to pursue an education or be able to have an income. And that's not a future that they want. Not everyone can afford to leave Afghanistan,” she said.
Some women and girls have started schools in their houses. That is a big risk. “Secret schools are a sign of the Afghan women’s resistance. But fathers and parents, in general, are terrified of the Taliban as there will be grave consequences for sending their daughters to such schools,” she said. “This is extremely stressful. Imagine that you are being treated as a criminal because you want to seek an education.””
The Guardian, Taliban policies risk de facto university ban for Afghan women, say officials, 1 August 2022
“The Taliban’s ban on girls studying at high schools will become a de facto ban on university degrees for women if it stays in place, a Taliban spokesperson and university officials have said.”
“Girls will not have the documents needed to enrol in higher education, or the academic capacity to start university
courses after nearly a year out of school.”
“Even if practical barriers to women entering higher education are removed in the coming months, authorities are also considering limiting them to degrees in healthcare and education, said a source with Taliban leadership ties.” “Without a high school graduation certificate, Afghan students cannot take the kankor national university entrance exam, which is required to enrol even at private colleges.”
“Afghanistan’s new leaders have repeatedly claimed that they support women’s education, as long as it complies with their definition of Islamic regulations.”
The Guardian, Taliban policies risk de factor university ban for Afghan women, say officials, 1 August 2022
“The Taliban’s ban on girls studying at high schools will become a de facto ban on university degrees for women if it stays in place, a Taliban spokesperson and university officials have said. Girls will not have the documents needed to enrol in higher education, or the academic capacity to start university courses after nearly a year out of school.
“Automatically if we do not have high school graduates, we won’t have new female university students any more,” said Maulawi Ahmed Taqi, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s ministry of higher education. “But I am hopeful that the ministry of education will come up with a policy and soon reopen the schools. Because we have realised that it is important, and the ban on girls’ education is temporary.”
Even if practical barriers to women entering higher education are removed in the coming months, authorities are also considering limiting them to degrees in healthcare and education, said a source with Taliban leadership ties. Without a high school graduation certificate, Afghan students cannot take the kankor national university entrance exam, which is required to enrol even at private colleges. Last year, the Taliban automatically “graduated” female twelfth grade students, making them eligible for the exam, should they want to attempt it when the new government holds one. But Afghanistan’s new rulers have not yet scheduled a session of the kankor since they took control of the country. […]
It is not clear whether the Taliban will once again issue otherwise meaningless “high school graduation certificates” to girls who should be finishing with them. Afghan law bars them from taking the entrance exam without one. […] Online classes and illegal underground schools have allowed some girls to keep studying, including in parts of the Taliban’s deeply conservative southern heartland, but these efforts only reach a tiny minority. Because secret schools are private initiatives, most have to charge fees to at least cover their costs, and the economic catastrophe that engulfed Afghanistan means few families can afford them. Streaming or downloading classes requires at least a smartphone and a generous data package, again out of reach for many of the girls who were the first in their family to reach high school.
Afghanistan’s new leaders have repeatedly claimed that they support women’s education, as long as it complies with their definition of Islamic regulations. This includes near total separation of the sexes, although male professors still teach some women’s classes due to a shortage of specialists.
Taqi pointed to the ministry’s efforts to shift schedules and reallocate buildings, so that women can attend single- sex classes, as a concrete demonstration of that support. Some universities, including the leading Kabul University, now teach men and women on alternate days. Others have morning and afternoon shifts.”
The Khaama Press News Agency, Afghanistan Economic Stabilization World Interest: U.S. Envoy, 28 July 2022 “Addressing the ever-increasing restrictions against women and girls’ education in Afghanistan, West said “many colleagues also raised grave concerns regarding human rights abuses, including restrictions on journalists and women’s ability to contribute to the country’s economic growth.””
Amnesty International (Afghanistan), Afghanistan: Death in slow motion: Women and girls under Taliban rule, 27 July 2022
"On 17 September 2021, the Taliban Ministry of Education released a statement ordering the return of all male teachers and male students to secondary schools, making no mention of female students or teachers. This
statement marked the beginning of the Taliban’s de facto ban on girls attending secondary school…After months of signalling and positive commitments from various Taliban representatives, the Ministry of Education announced on 21 March 2022 that both boys and girls would return to class at the start of the spring semester, on 23 March 2022. Yet at 9am on 23 March, the Taliban announced it would keep girls’ secondary schools closed. Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen attributed the postponement to a “technical issue”, and said that the Ministry of Education was working on developing a plan for standardized uniforms in line with “Afghan customs, culture and sharia”."
"Women staying in on [university]-campus dormitories told Amnesty International that they are now facing a bleak existence, as they are constantly monitored. Two students said female students staying in dormitories had been prevented from leaving their dormitories, even for routine daily needs. Hanifa, a 22-year-old university student
living in Laghman province, told Amnesty International: “If we need anything [the Taliban guards of the dormitory] would say, ‘Why are you leaving the hostel?... If you want to go anywhere, they will ask you to have a mahram [male chaperone], which we don’t have.”56 Hanifa noted that before she left university, a Taliban representative had visited her dormitory and threatened to expel female students who failed to respect the dress code or who left the dormitory without a mahram."
"Amnesty International and other monitoring organizations have documented several incidents of Taliban members subjecting students and teachers to harassment and violence, either on account of them being students or teachers, or for other infringements of Taliban restrictions. For instance, Efat, a 22-year-old university student, and Naveed, her 16-year-old brother, said they were attacked by two members of the Taliban while going to an English class, which the Taliban members called “the language of infidels”.Efat described the incident, in which Taliban members fractured her hand and beat her brother unconscious, badly injuring his neck."
"The deepening humanitarian and economic crisis has meant that girls and women are not able access education, as many families are now unable to afford the costs associated with schooling, while many children are now required to earn money for the family. According to Save the Children, around one
in every five families is now sending their children out to work in Afghanistan…Families
struggling to meet education costs often prioritize boys over girls."
Tolo News, Stanekzai: No Country Can Develop Without Education, 27 July 2022
“It has been over 11 months since the closing of girls’ schools above the sixth grade, and there has yet to be any decision on their reopening.”
“No country can develop without education, and the Islamic Emirate will open it for the citizens of the country, the reopening of a way to education is also Jihad and it should be done.” [Statement from the political deputy of the Foreign Ministry, Sher Mohammad Abas Stanekzai]
Khaama Press, German FM Says ‘Every Human Right Has Been Taken From Women and Girls in Afghanistan’, 27 July 2022
“German media reported on Tuesday, July 26, that Annalena Baerbock, the foreign minister of Germany, had said
that the Taliban’s rule over Afghanistan was a unique instance of egregious human rights abuses.
She also emphasized that women in Afghanistan are facing “the biggest violation of women’s rights on the Earth,” and that a greater emphasis on Afghan women and girls, whose lives “stopped” when the Taliban took power, is required.
Barred from work and education, she expressed concern regarding the deteriorating women’s rights in Afghanistan saying “every human right has been taken from women and girls in Afghanistan.”
(…) This comes at a time when Afghanistan’s situation with regards to human rights and women’s rights under the Taliban rule has worsened as girls are deprived of attending school and women in the public sector are denied their right to work.”
Pajhwok, Girl students seek early resumption of studies, 24 July
A number of students of two public institutes in western Badghis province are concerned at a halt to lessons and want the government to reopen their institutes at the earliest possible.
There are two government institutes (agriculture and administration & accounting), where 230 female students were studying before the fall of the previous government.
With both institutes closed, many girl students in the province are worried about their future. They say their fate
remains uncertain. (…)
Adela Kabir, one of female lecturers at a university, believed the closure of educational institutions for girls would cause them serious mental and emotional stress.She remarked suspending this process was not in the interest of any member of society. It affected not only women, but the entire society, she explained. She hoped the problem would be resolved as soon as possible and girls would be able to continue their studies.
Mohammad Ewaz Ghairat, head of technical and vocational education in the province, said they were awaiting
instructions of the Taliban’s Supreme Leader) regarding the reopening of the institutes for girls.
According to Ghairat, they have been given no written or verbal instructions for the reopening of the institutes for girls. He believed a decision in this regard would be taken soon.
Human Rights Watch, Afghanistan: Toll of Ban on Girls’ Secondary Education, 13 July 2022
“The Taliban’s ban on secondary education has already caused girls in Afghanistan to lose 300 days of their studies
with devastating consequences for them, their families, and the country’s future, Human Rights Watch said today
[…]
On September 18, 2021, a month after taking over the country, the Taliban ordered the reopening of boys’ secondary schools but made no mention of girls’ secondary schools. This was interpreted as a ban on girls’ secondary education. In several provinces, under community pressure, Taliban officials allowed girls’ secondary schools to reopen, but the vast majority of these schools remained closed.
On March 21, 2022, the Taliban pledged to reopen all schools on March 23, but on that date they closed girls’ secondary schools again. An indefinite ban remains in place with no clarity about when or if these schools will reopen. Yalda Hakim, a BBC news presenter who participated in the project, has been counting down on Twitter the days since the ban began, on July 14 it will be 300 days.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Gandhara, Erosion Of Women's Rights, Extrajudicial Killings Plague Taliban Rule,
UN Says, 20 July 2022
“Girls have been banned from school beyond the sixth grade in most of Afghanistan. In March, the Taliban ordered
girls' high schools closed on the morning they were scheduled to open.”
Tolo News, Potzel: Participation of Women, Girls 'Fundamental, 20 July 2022
“Potzel, the UNAMA deputy head, added that although security has been improved since August last year, Afghan
people, especially women and girls, are deprived of their human rights…UNAMA’s report highlights specific
concerns over the Ministry of Vice and Virtue and the General Directorate of Intelligence, saying that these two institutions have restricted the fundamental freedoms of Afghans. “Many of the directives issued by the de facto Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice limit the human rights and freedoms of Afghans, in particular women and girls. Although such directives are said to be recommendatory in nature, at times members of the de facto authorities have taken a harsh stance on their implementation, including carrying out physical punishments for alleged infringements of their directives,” UNAMA’s report reads.”
“While the closing of girls’ schools above sixth grade has provoked a wide range of criticism, the deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate said the decision is related to the leader of the Islamic Emirate. “The statement which has been announced by the Ministry of Education and the leadership of the Islamic Emirate, there is a clear explanation about this issue, and everyone should be satisfied with it,” said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate. 309 days have passed since girls’ schools beyond the sixth grade have been closed, but the leader of the Islamic Emirate has not mentioned the reopening of girls' schools in his meetings and statements.”
ToloNews, Campaign for Girls' Education Continues on Social Media, 12 July 2022
"It has been nearly 300 days since the secondary schools for Afghan girls remained shut and still there is no a clarification on the reopening of schools across the country."
AVA, Ashraf Ghani's Eid message; Those who claim leadership, prevent history from repeating itself, 9 July 2022 "Ashraf Ghani, the country's former president, in this message that was published on Friday night (July 8), said that the acquisition of knowledge is mandatory and the best family is a family where both men and women have knowledge.
According to him; Experiences in the world show that the education of one girl can change five generations"
ToloNews, Activists: Rise in Forced Marriages Linked to Closed Girls' Schools, 8 July 2022
Some women’s rights activists in Bamyan province said that the closure of girls’ schools above sixth grade has caused a surged in the number of forced marriages and has added to domestic violence in this province. "According to the activists, the closure of schools for female students has caused many girls to turn to hard labor. "When the schools are closed, some traditional families ... forced (daughters) to marry, and I have seen many school students who were forced to marry underage,” said Latifah Sadat, women's rights activist."
[…]
"After nearly a year of girls being deprived of school and of increasing poverty in Bamyan, some students say they have turned to hard labor.
"We started sewing and doing handicrafts as a way to escape unemployment. I would prefer to get employment
than to be unemployed,” Mastora Akbari, one of the students, told TOLOnews."
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Gandhara, Taliban's New Chaperone Rule Deprives Afghan Women of Foreign Scholarships, 8 July 2022
"But Afghan women are now being deprived of studying abroad because the Taliban is not allowing women to travel outside Afghanistan without a male chaperone.
The restriction follows a Taliban ban on education for teenage girls, which has kept millions of secondary-school students from the classroom since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August.
"I had a hellish experience because of this restriction," says Hadia Tuba, who recently went to Pakistan to begin her university education on a scholarship from Islamabad.
The young Kabul resident says the day she crossed the Torkham border crossing connecting eastern Afghanistan to northwestern Pakistan was the hardest in her life.
"The Taliban stopped me at the border and questioned me for the entire day," she told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "Eventually, I was let go after a stern warning [that I should never travel alone]."
Tuba says the intimidation she felt was difficult to describe.
"I will never forget what happened, but I don't like to talk about it," she said. The restriction has forced entire Afghan families to leave the country.
Sonia Ahmadi was forced to bring her parents and siblings with her when she went to the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad to attend Ferdowsi University.
"It is a major problem that no woman is allowed to travel alone, whether by road or by air," she told Radio Azadi. "The gender discrimination against women is pushing Afghanistan backward.""
AAN, Donor's dilemma: How to provide aid to a country whose government you do not recognise, 5 July 2022
"The call for international recognition [by Taleban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada in his Eid ul-Fitr message on 1 May 2022] was highlighted in the closing statement of a gathering of more than 4,000 ulema (religious leaders) and elders which was held in Kabul on 29 June to 2 July 2022. The statement, however, made no reference to
reopening girls’ schools (see media reports here and here).
The Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre Land info, Country info response Afghanistan: the situation for Afghan women after Taliban takeover, 22 June 2022
"According to Wimpelmann (2022), Afghan women activists believe that they are now living with gender apartheid. On the basis of gender, women and girls are denied both education, work, freedom of movement and the right to leave one's home. As already noted, protesters can be arrested or abducted
After a visit to Afghanistan, Save the Children stated Foreign Manager Nora Ingdal that about 80 percent of the girls in junior high school do not attending school. According to sharia, the man is the breadwinner of the family, while the woman is responsible the daily operation of the home arena. Before the takeover it was not formal obstacles to women being able to work. Still had less than one of five women paid work (Desai & Li 2018, p. 34). After the takeover, the economy has stopped and many have lost their jobs. Women are particularly hard hit. With the exception of those who have work that can not performed by men, government-employed women were told not to show up for work. In 2019 36 percent of the country's teachers were women. The suspension of schooling for girls over 12 years has meant that many female teachers are out of work (Kumar & Noori 2022).
In order for women to be able to return to work, it is an absolute requirement gender segregation in the workplace (Human Rights Watch 2022). It have to be separate entrances, living rooms and dining rooms (Pakistani Analyst, 2022). Et hospitals in Kabul report that they have been asked to introduce total segregation of boats employees
and patients (Kumar & Noori 2022).
Limited freedom of movement and low occupational participation are two sides of the same coin. Working women must get to and from work. The Taliban has instructed locals taxi drivers about not giving women access unless she wears the burka or has a male companion (mahram) (Ahad & Kumar 2022)."
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) (Afghanistan), Oral Statement for the Interactive Dialogue on the
UN High Commissioner’s Oral Update on Afghanistan, 16 June 2022
"Over the past 10 months, abundant evidence has emerged that the Taliban remains the same human rights abusing entity it was before its August 2021 power seizure. The recent decisions by the de facto authorities to keep girls above grade six out of school and to force women to cover their faces are only two examples of the massive setback for the rights of women and girls."
ToloNews, Top UNHCR Official Voices Concerns Over Closed Girls' Schools, 15 June 2022
"It has been over 270 days that the girls’ school above grade six have remained closed in Afghanistan.
Earlier, the Islamic Emirate said it is working on a plan to facilitate the reopening of the schools but there has yet to be any progress in this regard."
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Global Annual Results Report 2021 Gender Equality, 1 June 2022
"In Afghanistan, millions of girls are being denied access to schools. With outsize repercussions on women and girls, climate change threats have multiplied and there have been escalating political and socioeconomic tensions in fragile settings, amplifying gender inequalities and compromising health, livelihoods and safety […] In Afghanistan, education access for disadvantaged girls was ramped up through over 7,000 community-based education classes that benefited almost 240,000 students (over 50 per cent girls)."
Gandhara, Afghan Protester 'Ready To Give Life' To Defend Women's Rights, 1 June 2022
“An Afghan protester told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi on May 26 that she's not afraid to give her life to defend the rights of women and young girls in the country. Her comments came after female protesters took to the streets of Kabul to demand the Taliban allow education and jobs for women.”
Tolo News, No Details Yet from Committee on Girls' Schooling: Spokesperson, 31 May 2022
“256 days have passed since the closing of schools for girls over grade 6, and although the Islamic Emirate says it has recently formed a committee of nine people to work on reopening the schools for girls, there have been no details provided yet about the progress of the committee.”
Tolo News, Afghan Women Protest Over Closed Girls' Schools, 29 May 2022
“Women protesters gathered in Kabul on Sunday to emphasize that the Islamic Emirate should immediately lift
restrictions on women and reopen girls' schools above the sixth grade.”
Tolo News, Girls at Badakhshan University Say Covering Faces Unhealthy, 28 May 2022
“Female students in the northern province of Badakhshan said that they have been told by the Ministry of Vice and Virtue to cover their faces inside the university. The students said that they have been struggling with heat because of being obliged to wear black clothes and masks in the university. “There are some girls who have pneumonia problems and cannot use the mask, so we are against wearing masks in the class if it is possible to do so,” said Royta Tahiri, a student.”
OHCHR, Statement by Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, concluding his visit to Kabul and Balkh and Kandahar provinces carried out from 15 to 26 May 2022 (reduction in armed fighting and civilian casualties since August 2021; deterioration of the human rights situation; humanitarian and economic crisis), 26 May 2022
“Measures such as the suspension of girls’ secondary education, severe barriers to employment, no opportunities
to participate in political and public life, limits on freedom of movement, association, and expression, directives on maharam (male family member chaperone), enforcing a strict form of Hijab and strong advice to stay at home, fit a pattern of absolute gender segregation and are aimed at making women invisible in society. These measures contravene Afghanistan’s obligations under numerous human rights treaties to which it is a State party. […] As a first step, the de facto authorities should announce the date for the reopening of girls’ secondary schools in all provinces. Critical services for all Afghans, especially women, girls, and persons with disabilities, must continue to be delivered, and this requires female as well as male aid workers who are able to have full access to
communities.”
UNAMA, PRESS STATEMENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON THE SITUATION IN AFGHANISTAN, 24 May 2022
“The members of the Security Council expressed deep concern regarding the increasing erosion of respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls in Afghanistan by the Taliban, including through imposition of restrictions that limit access to education, employment, freedom of movement, and women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in public life, and emphasized that these restrictions contradict the expectations of the international community and the commitments made by the Taliban to the Afghan people. […] The members of the Security Council called on the Taliban to swiftly reverse the policies and practices which are currently restricting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Afghan women and girls. They also reiterated their call on the Taliban to adhere to their commitments to reopen schools for all female students without further delay.”
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Afghanistan: Taliban confirms gender-based persecution, 24 March 2022
“The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) strongly condemns the decision by the Taliban to keep girls’ secondary schools (i.e. above grade 6) indefinitely closed. This decision was confirmed by the Taliban yesterday, on the very day schools were supposed to re-open after a seven-month hiatus. While the Ministry of Education had said that all schools, including girls’ high schools, would re-open at the start of the spring semester on 23 March
2022, yesterday’s decision comes as no surprise considering its consistency with the Taliban’s ideology and disregard for the Afghan population, exemplified by its violent overthrow of the elected government of Afghanistan in August 2021.”
United Nations Security Council, Security Council Press Statement on Situation in Afghanistan, 24 May 2022
"The members of the Security Council expressed deep concern regarding the increasing erosion of respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls in Afghanistan by the Taliban, including through imposition of restrictions that limit access to education, employment, freedom of movement, and women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in public life, and emphasized that these restrictions contradict the expectations of the international community and the commitments made by the Taliban to the Afghan people.
…They also reiterated their call on the Taliban to adhere to their commitments to reopen schools for all female
students without further delay."
Tolo News, Haqqani: 'We Are Not Forcing Women to Wear Hijab', 18 May 2022
"The acting Minister of Interior, Sirajuddin Haqqani, said that soon good news will be heard about the education of girls and that a mechanism is being developed in this regard."
BBC News, Afghanistan: The secret girls school defying the Taliban, 18 May 2022
"Primary schools for girls have reopened under the Taliban, and have in fact seen a rise in attendance following the improvement in security in rural parts of the country, but it's not clear when or if older girls will be allowed back into class. The Taliban have said the correct "Islamic environment" needs to be created first, though given schools were already segregated by gender, no-one seems sure what that means. Now, multiple sources told the BBC, a handful of hardline but highly influential individuals in the group appear to still be opposed to it. In private, other Taliban members have expressed their disappointment at the decision not to open girls' schools. The Taliban's
Ministry of Education seemed as surprised as anyone when the leadership overruled their plans in March, and some senior Taliban officials are understood to be educating their daughters in Qatar or Pakistan. In recent weeks, a number of religious scholars with links to the Taliban have issued fatwas, or religious decrees supporting girls' right to learn."
Ariana News, IEA says girls’ schools will reopen soon, 16 May 2022
"Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), and deputy minister of the IEA’s Ministry of Information and Culture, said progress has been made at a meeting of religious scholars and girls’ schools would reopen soon. Speaking to reporters in Kabul on Sunday Mujahid said: “Good progress has been made at the meeting of the country’s scholars regarding the reopening of girls’ schools and other major political issues, and girls’ schools will be reopened in the near future.” He said that the meeting, attended by tribal leaders and influential people of the country, is focusing on major political, security and social issues. “The Ulema are consulting on the reopening of girls’ schools, and progress will be made soon,” said Mujahid. Meanwhile, Anas Haqqani, a senior member of the Islamic Emirate, said on Wednesday that a meeting of religious scholars would be held to discuss the issue of girls going to school. Officials at the Ministry of Education of the Islamic Emirate have said that they will reopen girls’ schools in the near future within the framework of Islamic principles."
Tolo News, 15 Foreign Ministers Issue Statement on Afghan Women's Rights, 15 May 2022
"The Foreign Ministers of 15 countries in a statement expressed their ‘deep’ concerns over restrictions on girls’ access to education in Afghanistan and called on the “Taliban to respect the right to education and adhere to their commitments to reopen schools for all female students.” The statement was issued by the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States. Meanwhile, the US envoy for Afghanistan human rights and women, Rina Amiri, in an interview with the DW also voiced concerns over the restrictions being imposed by the current Afghan government on women. “The Afghan women expect the Taliban to focus on the security and facilitation of a good life for the people and not to interfere in the normal life of people,” said Farah Mustafavi, a women’s rights activist. But the Islamic Emirate denied the restrictions on the women. “We deny such claims about the violation of women’s rights. The Islamic Emirate protect the rights of all Afghan citizens,” said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate. Earlier, the US Department of State said that it has leverage to use against the Islamic Emirate if there was no revision in its policy regarding women."
The Guardian, The Guardian view on Afghan women: the Taliban turn the screws, 10 May 2022
"On Saturday, the Taliban once more ordered women to cover their faces in public. While Afghan women have courageously protested against the injunction, the reaction internationally has this time been muted. That it
follows other punitive restrictions creating what some have called “gender apartheid” – preventing teenage girls from studying and women from working outside healthcare or education, or travelling outside their home town without a male guardian – makes it all the more appalling."
Deutsche Welle (Afghanistan), How the Taliban are 'eliminating women' in Afghanistan, 9 May 2022
"The Taliban also recently backtracked on a promise to allow girls to attend school. Secondary schools for girls will be opened once "appropriate dress codes" are agreed upon for students aged 12 and older, according to a statement issued last week by the Ministry for the "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.""
Pajhwok, 14 people suffer casualties in Afghanistan last week, 8 May 2022
"All girls’ schools were expected to open at the beginning of 1401 solar year, but the Afghan caretaker government delayed the schools’ opening until further notice. The Ministry of Education says it has worked on a plan to reopen the schools after approval from the leadership of the government."
" United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also expressed concern about delays in the opening of girls’
secondary and high schools in Afghanistan."
Pajhwok, Girls’ schools to be reopened soon: Anas Haqqani, 4 May 2022
“KHOST CITY (Pajhwok): Anas Haqqani, a member of the Islamic Emirate’s Qatar office, on Wednesday said girls’ schools would be opened […]”
Tolo News, UNICEF Concerned by Impact of School Ban on Girls' Learning, 4 May 2022
“The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is concerned about the impact on girls' learning from the decision to ban schooling for females over the sixth grade, a senior UNICEF official said. Same Mort, chief of Communication, Advocacy and Civic Engagement in Afghanistan, said the closing of schools will affect the mental health of the female students. “One month since the new term started for some children but not all children in Afghanistan, UNICEF is deeply concerned by the impact of this decision on girls learning--on their mental health and on their ability to contribute to the Afghan economy into the future,” she said. Mort said the UNICEF is supporting education in Afghanistan. “When girls are out of school, they are much more susceptible to early marriage and child labor. They are much more likely to be victims of exploitation and abuse, that is why UNICEF continues to advocate to get all children into school and learning at all levels in all regions,” she said.
Meanwhile, Shamayil Tawana, a female rights activist, urged the Islamic Emirate to reopen schools for girls beyond grade six. “All Afghans demanded the Taliban reopen the schools and not deprive Afghan girls from their Sharia rights,” she said. The Ministry of Education said that the reopening of school for girls is an important issue for the Islamic Emirate. “This issue is important for the Islamic Emirate as much as it is important for the international community. The meetings are underway about this,” said Aziz Ahmad Riyan, a spokesman for the ministry. The closure of schools for girls above grade six triggered reactions at the national and international levela. However, officials of the current government said the problem will be solved soon.”
Tolo News, Afghan Girls Banned From School Suffer Psychologically: Experts, 3 May 2022
“Female students above grade six say the closing of their schools is causing them mental health trouble. The students said they are counting the seconds until school will be reopened. Saeeda, a student in grade 10, said she dreams of being a doctor in the future. Saeeda said she is afraid to not reach her dreams now because girls beyond grade six are not allowed to go to school. “I am very disappointed that the schools were not reopened. It is the right of every girl to have access to education,” said Saeeda, a student in grade 10. “We seriously don’t know what type of situation this is. We should go to school to make our future,” said Setayish, a student. Psychologists say
that the banning of these girls from school is causing mental stress. “When someone likes something and is prevented from doing it, it causes mental stress and anxiety. The girls who like education and are not allowed to engage in it, it causes them mental pressure,” said Jamshid Rasa, a psychologist. Sociologists said banning girls from education can pave the ground for early and forced marriages in the country. “The banning of girls from going to secondary and high school will cause a surge in forced marriage,” said Bahauddin Baqayi, a sociologist.”
Human Rights Watch (Afghanistan), Dress Restrictions Tighten for Afghanistan Girls’ Schools, 27 April 2022
“But Balkh province in northern Afghanistan was unique: girls’ secondary schools have remained open since the Taliban took power. But open schools in Balkh and elsewhere have been threatened with closure if they refuse to comply with increasingly harsh dress codes. […] “The requirements on hijab are getting tougher day by day,” said a teacher regarding the mandatory Muslim headscarf. “They have spies to record and report.… If students or teachers don’t follow their strict hijab rules, without any discussion they fire the teachers and expel the students.” She shared a photo of her school’s assembly; students and teachers all wore uniforms allowing only their eyes to show.”
Afghan Voice Agency, Karzai: Afghans want girls’ schools to reopen, 26 April 2022
“Afghan Voice Aegncy [Sic] (AVA)_In an interview with the BBC, the former president insisted: “There is no way that the country can live without our girls going to school.”
He added: “I am sure (secondary) schools for will reopen because that is what the Afghan people want.” Despite impassioned calls from different quarters, girl students above grade six have been out of school for the past 120 days.”
Afghan Voice Agency, UNICEF director visits girls school; says ‘education must be above politics’, 25 April 2022 “The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concern about the continued closure of secondary and high schools for girls in Afghanistan, saying “education should not be held hostage to politics.”
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), Muslim hijabi students leave exam venue after not being allowed entry, 25 April 2022 “Two girls from Karnataka, India, who had submitted a court petition seeking permission to wear Hijab inside classrooms, were refused to take their board examination after they requested to take the exam while wearing burqas.”
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), IEA Separates Weekdays for Male, Female University Students, 24 April 2022
“Ministry of Higher Education of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan separated weekdays of male and female
students of universities in Kabul University and Kabul Polytechnic University in a bid to further end co-education.”
Ariana News, IEA unveils segregation plan for male and female university students, 24 April 2022
“The Ministry of Higher Education of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has announced that male and female
students will be segregated and attend lectures on alternate days of the week.”
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), 80% of Afghan girls missing out on education, 23 April 2022
“Almost 80% of Afghan girls are missing out on an education, Save the Children said Friday- almost a month after
the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) issued a ban on teenage girls going to school.”
US DOS, 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Afghanistan, 12 April 2022
“An education director in Jawzjan Province said in March that Taliban militants stopped an estimated 20,000 female students from studying beyond sixth grade. Even before their takeover of Kabul, in Taliban-controlled districts within the provinces of Kunar, Helmand, Logar, and Zabul, the Taliban had largely prohibited women and girls from attending school as provincial education officials attempted in vain to negotiate with the Taliban for girls to have access to education. Violent attacks on schoolchildren, particularly girls, hindered their access to education, particularly in areas controlled by the Taliban. The Taliban and other extremists threatened and attacked school officials, teachers, and students, particularly girls, and burned both boys’ and girls’ schools. In
February Taliban militants set fire to a girls’ school in Takhar Province, burning all equipment, books, and documents. […] Following their takeover, the Taliban severely restricted or prohibited female education across all age levels, citing a need to ensure proper facilities were in place for segregated education in line with the Taliban’s interpretation of sharia.
The Taliban’s lack of a clear education policy regarding women’s ability to teach and girls’ ability to attend schools,
combined with nonpayment of teachers’ salaries, led to low enrollment rates even where schools were open. In September the Taliban stated that girls would be able to go to school in line with Islamic law, without further clarifying how it would respect their access to education. According to UNICEF, the Taliban instructed primary
schools in late August to reopen for both girls and boys. On September 18, the new Taliban ministry of education issued a statement resuming secondary education for boys but gave no indication as to when girls might return to classes. As of December schools in nine of the country’s 34 provinces – Balkh, Jawzjan, Samangan, Kunduz, Urozgan, Ghazni, Faryab, Zabul, and Herat – had allowed girls to attend secondary school before closing for the winter break, according to UNICEF and other reports. In December the Taliban asserted that this number had grown to 12 provinces and pledged that all girls could return to school in March 2022 after the break.
As of December all public universities remained closed. Several private, all-female universities reopened for fall classes in October. Taliban leaders stated they were committed to allowing girls and women access to education through the postgraduate level, although only in accordance with their interpretation of sharia and within the confines of Afghan culture, which includes segregation of genders and strict behavioral and dress codes.
On November 16, the head of the so-called Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice stated there was no theological basis in Islam for preventing girls and women from having access to all levels of
education. Other Taliban representatives expressed the group’s intent to provide educational access at all levels to
women and girls. At year’s end many Afghan girls remained excluded from the educational system.”
Ariana News, Clerics, teachers, activists call on IEA to reopen girls’ schools, 7 April 2022
“The clerics, teachers and activists noted in a resolution Thursday at a gathering in Kabul that the closure of girls schools was neither logical nor was it in keeping with Sharia.
This comes after the IEA closed schools for girls above the sixth grade – a move that sparked an international
outcry.”
Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), The Ban on Older Girls’ Education: Taleban conservatives ascendant and a leadership in disarray, 29 March 2022
“The acute grief and disappointment of older girls and their parents and teachers that girls have not been allowed to resume their studies has been all too evident. There is also fear, both for the prospects for girls under the Islamic Emirate and for what this policy means for the future of their country. The Taleban authorities speak of this as a temporary measure in place until they can put measures in place to allow schools to open, but given a plan to reopen girls’ secondary schools has been promised since the Taleban took power in August, many now do not trust that such a plan will ever be enacted. The fear that this will be an indefinite ban has led to some families now considering leaving the country, but that is not an option for the majority who are too poor to leave. “I have no plan,” the vegetable seller from Ghazni quoted above who said he cried over his girls being barred from school. “What I can do! A person in a weak economic position cannot manage to migrate.” He said his girls were now studying at home and their elders were helping them, but he thought it would be of no use; they needed a formal system and a more certain future [...]Since the August 2021 closures, the Taleban government has faced enormous pressure to reinstate full female access to education. Taleban officials have made numerous statements suggesting that it would do so, provided certain requirements were met. Implicit in these statements has been an expectation of international support for the education sector […] The Taleban’s decision-making has historically been generally opaque, but all the more so with regard to controversial issues. The Taleban is typically referred to as a consensus- based movement, with the Rahbari, or leadership, Shura advising the amir ul-mumenin, Haibatullah Akhundzada, who has ultimate authority as the movement’s leader. But the balance of power is more delicate than this suggests, especially when opinion within the movement is sharply divided. Much comes down to personalities and perceptions. Unlike his predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansur, Haibatullah appears unwilling to take controversial decisions. He is widely viewed as personally opposing female education. Yet, he had been expected to act in accordance with the consensus view, which was thought to be in favour of allowing girls’ schooling.
Instead, he sided with a minority who were against […] Yet the opposition to girls’ schooling voiced at the meeting does not appear to be solely concerned with religion or ideology. Many religious conservatives have reportedly not felt included in the Taleban’s major decisions and so, in voicing their opposition to female education, they were voicing their displeasure at the direction of the government overall. Their power to stop the Taleban from moving ahead with something that many, if not most Afghans favour and much of their own leadership is willing to allow – reportedly including all three deputies of the movement (Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Ghani Baradar, Acting Minister of Defense Mullah Yaqub and Acting Minister of Interior Serajuddin Haqqani) – illustrates the importance of a small circle of ultra-conservative clerics in shaping policy […] Even in places like Mazar-e Sharif, where some girls’ secondary schools are still open, the Taleban’s decision has set students and teachers on edge. One tenth- grader in the city, with hopes of becoming a doctor, said nearly half of her classmates were staying at home and they no longer had enough teachers. She said the school principal had already introduced further dress restrictions in hopes that this would safeguard the school from Taleban closure. The larger effect the Taleban’s decision will have on demand and attitudes toward female education remains to be seen. A father in Kabul said he worried that now the schools were closed, his daughters would lose interest in studying altogether. His older daughter is still
attending university, but he worries the Taleban will shut university doors to her any day now. ”
UNAMA, Security Council Press Statement on Afghanistan, 28 March 2022
“The members of the Security Council heard a briefing on 25 March by the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, regarding the right to education for all Afghans, including girls. The members of the Security Council expressed their deep concern regarding the reported decision by the Taliban to deny girls above the 6th grade access to education in Afghanistan. They reaffirmed the right to education for all Afghans, including girls, and called on the Taliban to respect the right to education and adhere to their
commitments to reopen schools for all female students without further delay.”
Inter Press Service (IPS), Afghanistan’s Girls’ Education is a Women’s Rights Issue, 28 March 2022
“The right to education has been an oft-discussed, critical human rights issue for Afghanistan, especially when it comes to how, or even if, this right is extended to girls. This concern had already been compounded by the forced closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted all school-going children and adolescents. While alternative learning pathways, including Community-Based Education centers based in rural and remote provinces for children to attend, have been available, girls’ education in government schools remained a lingering question. The Taliban’s rise to power raised the fear that the right to education would be denied to girls indefinitely, if not permanently. It would only signal increasing measures to control women’s rights and mobility beyond the domestic sphere.
The last-minute decision may likely indicate infighting between factions that are divided on the issue of girls’ education.”
Amnesty International, Afghanistan: Taliban’s backtrack on school re-opening for girls irreversibly impacts their future, 28 March 2022
“On 23 March, female students of secondary schools were returning to classrooms for the first time in seven months. While many girls were waiting to start their lessons, at 9 a.m. the Taliban leadership announced it had decided to keep girls’ schools closed ‘until school uniforms are designed in accordance with the Afghan customs, culture, and Sharia and all these girls were told to immediately leave the schools[…]
[…] Students, teachers, school principals and women activists in Afghanistan were left devastated when within hours of reaching schools they were informed about Taliban’s new order and were once again facing the reality of being denied education.
Since taking over Afghanistan seven months ago, the Taliban has made several commitments to respect girls’ right to education. The Taliban de-facto Ministry of Education circulated a statement on 20 March, announcing that all schools would re-open after the winter break on 23 March. However, secondary schools for girls remained closed for girls. In Herat province secondary schools were open only for two days and on the third day, female students were told that schools shall remain closed for them.
17-year-old Nadia is a Grade 12 student in Badakshan province. On 24 March, she told Amnesty International: “I was extremely excited. I went to school with huge hopes. I met my classmates and teachers. Everyone was happy. Everyone was excited for the start of the classes. However, after few minutes, our principal came and told us that we need to leave. She was ordered to shut down the girls’ schools. We were all shattered. Some started crying, some stood silent. As much as I did not want to leave the school, I forced myself to move towards the exit gate. It broke my heart to once again leave the school not knowing if I will ever be allowed to return.”
Since 23 March, residents, students, women’s rights activists in Kabul, Nangarhar, Badakhshan have held several protests demanding the Taliban to immediately open secondary schools for girls. On Saturday, several young women took to the streets in Kabul. In verified videos accessed by Amnesty, women activists were seen warning that this will lead to the schoolgirls’ loss of talent as well as that their isolation will mean trauma and no future.”
BBC News, Afghanistan: protesters urge Taliban to reopen girls’ schools, 26 March 2022
“About two dozen, mainly female, protesters gathered close to the Taliban's Ministry of Education on Saturday
morning, calling on the group to reopen girls' secondary schools […]
In some provinces, particularly in northern Afghanistan, local Taliban officials have allowed teenage girls to continue to study, but others appear to oppose the idea.”
Aljazeera, Afghan girls stage protest, demand Taliban reopen schools, 26 March 2022
Kabul, days after the Taliban administration shut secondary schools for girls until further notice, following which
the Afghan group has been accused of reneging on its promise on higher education for girls.
Thousands of jubilant girls across Afghanistan had flocked to learning institutions on Wednesday – the date the education ministry had set for classes to resume for girls of all ages. But just hours into the first day, the ministry announced a shock policy reversal that left youngsters saying they felt betrayed and foreign governments expressing outrage.
On Friday, the United States cancelled planned talks with the Taliban in Qatar that were set to address key
economic issues after the group’s decision to close schools.
The decision, which the Taliban has yet to explain, means girls above the sixth grade will not be able to attend school.
“Open the schools! Justice, justice!” chanted protesters on Saturday, some carrying school books as they gathered
at a city square in Kabul.
They held banners that said “Education is our fundamental right, not a political plan”, as they marched for a short
distance and later dispersed as Taliban fighters arrived at the scene.”
The Guardian, Taliban U-turn over Afghan girls’ education reveals deep leadership divisions, 25 March 2022
“As international outrage grew at the U-turn, the official Taliban response was confused and contradictory. The group blamed a lack of teachers on the closures and said they first needed to create an appropriate environment for girls to study, and decide on appropriate uniforms.
A statement issued by the Taliban’s education ministry then said school openings would be postponed “until further notice when a comprehensive plan, in accordance with Sharia and Afghan culture, is developed”.
Experts say that the decision to close education to girls over 11 is nothing to do with uniforms. Instead, it is a sign of deep divisions within the group about the future direction of rule in Afghanistan [...]
[...] Harun Najafizada, director at Afghanistan International Television, said: “The Taliban’s older generation –
represented by the group’s religious leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and acting prime minister Hasan Akhund – is ideologically opposed to sending girls to school. They can’t take it: they see it as immoral and not in line with local culture.” He added that a source close to the group’s leadership had allegedly heard Akhund saying he did not want to see girls attending school in his native Kandahar province for as long as he was alive – but seemed to not have extended that statement to other provinces such as Kabul, Bamyan or Herat.”
Human Rights Watch, Afghan Girls Grieve After School Ban Reinstated, 24 March 2022
“For Atefa and hundreds of thousands of Afghan girls banned from secondary schools since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, March 23, the day set for their return to the classroom, should have been an exciting new beginning. “I was both worried and excited,” another girl said. “I couldn’t close my eyes last night, and I couldn’t believe the darkness was going to end.”
But that morning, the Taliban announced — to the despair of schoolgirls, parents, and Afghans worldwide — that girls’ secondary schools would remain closed until policies and school uniforms followed “principles of Islamic law and Afghan culture.” Atefa and her friends were sent home after a short visit to their school. “Everyone at school had tears in their eyes,” she said [...]”
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Afghanistan: Taliban confirms gender-based persecution, 24 March 2022
“The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) strongly condemns the decision by the Taliban to keep girls’ secondary schools (i.e. above grade 6) indefinitely closed. This decision was confirmed by the Taliban yesterday, on the very day schools were supposed to re-open after a seven-month hiatus.
While the Ministry of Education had said that all schools, including girls’ high schools, would re-open at the start of
the spring semester on 23 March 2022, yesterday’s decision comes as no surprise considering its consistency with
“More than two dozen girls and women have staged protests in front of the Ministry of Education in the capital,
the Taliban’s ideology and disregard for the Afghan population, exemplified by its violent overthrow of the elected government of Afghanistan in August 2021.
Such a decision reveals the Taliban’s dishonest discourse to persuade the Afghan population and their international interlocutors that it is committed to respecting human rights, including the rights of women and girls. It is also in breach of fundamental human rights obligations under treaties to which Afghanistan is a state party, such as 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).”
UNICEF, Girls in Afghanistan must go back to school without any further delays, 23 March 2022 [Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell]
“‘The de facto authorities’ decision to delay the return to school for girls from Grade 7 to Grade 12 is a major
setback for girls and their futures. [...]”
UNAMA, STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY-GENERAL - ON AFGHANISTAN, 23 March 2022
“[...] today’s announcement by Taliban authorities in Afghanistan that girls’ education from the sixth grade has been suspended until further notice. The start of the new school year has been anticipated by all students, girls and boys, and parents and families. The de facto authorities’ failure to reopen schools for girls above the sixth grade, despite repeated commitments, is a profound disappointment and deeply damaging for Afghanistan. The denial of education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls to education, it also jeopardizes the country’s future in view of the tremendous contributions by Afghan women and girls.”
Agence France Presse, Heartbreak as Afghan girls ordered home just hours after schools reopen, 23 March 2022 “Crestfallen students, back at school for the first time since the Taliban seized power in August last year, tearfully packed up their belongings and filed out”
Baktar News Agency, New School Year “1401” Start in the Country, 23 March 2022
“KABUL (BNA) The Ministry of Education started the 1401 solar school year today. [...] .At the starts of the ceremony, Mawlawi Noor al-Haq, Deputy Director General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, talked about the curriculum and said that the curriculum of the previous government was made by foreigners and contributed by individuals and experts who were in favor of the United States and loyal to that country. Not for the benefit of Afghanistan and its generations. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is most aware of the value of science and knowledge, but education should be standard and in accordance with Islamic and Afghan values.” He added [...] Meanwhile, Mawlawi Aziz Ahmad Ryan, director of publications and spokesman for the Ministry of Education, told the media that the Ministry of Education had submitted a plan to reopen all schools in the country under the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, but right now, under the guidance of the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, schools for women from the sixth grade above are closed until further notice. “After compiling a comprehensive plan in this field in accordance with Islamic law and Afghan culture and traditions, as well as the ruling of the Islamic Emirate, female schools and high schools will be officially informed.” He added” “.
Jurist, Afghanistan dispatch: ‘the Taliban have started to search the whole city of Kabul’, 9 March 2022
“Inside Kabul University, girls are taught in the morning, and boys in the afternoon. Girls are required to wear full body black Hijabs, not thin and in a manner that is not showing. Taking pictures is banned, standing in groups is banned—these are not my words, but the exact words announced by Ministry of Higher education. Also, entering and exiting for boys and girl is done through very specific gates so boys and girls cannot meet while entering and exiting the university.”
Pursuit, Girls Forced to Act as Boys in Afghanistan, 4 March 2022
“Bacha posh involves young girls being dressed and treated as boys for a period – typically from birth until puberty.
[...]
When a girl becomes a bacha posh, her hair is cut short, she dresses in peran tombon (traditional Afghan male clothing), and she takes a male name. As a result her status in the family and in wider society is elevated, and she no longer performs tasks typically reserved for Afghan girls, like housework and cooking.
Instead, she can play outside with other boys, go to school or even work. In the eyes of the community, she is
male, so she doesn’t need a chaperone and can even escort her female family members outside. […]
Our recently published research (based on interviews with 10 women and a group discussion) highlights a number of reasons that the women believed had contributed to the practice of bacha posh:
Families experiencing poverty need breadwinners, and it is easier to work as a male.
Societal stigma and shame around only having daughters – for example, one woman told us that her father was encouraged to take on a second wife because he had five daughters and no sons.
Families feared that men would target their daughters for premarital relations (tainting their ‘pure’ status), which
would dishonour the family name (baad nami).
Patriarchal societal structures create barriers to women accessing healthcare, education, employment, and legal
systems.”
VOA, US Seeks Muslim Nations Help to Counter Taliban Views on Women, 3 March 2022
“The radical group [the Taliban] has promised to open secondary schools for all girls in Afghanistan this month.”
TOLO News, Students Concerned With Shortage of Public University Professors, 27 February
“On Saturday, the government reopened all public universities after a long delay in cold areas of the country. Students at public universities in Kabul expressed concerns about the shortage of instructors. Also female students who have come from the provinces complained over a lack of accommodation, saying that they are struggling with serious problems.
On Saturday, the government reopened all public universities after a long delay in cold areas of the country. [...] Female students who come to Kabul to attend their lessons said they are struggling with accommodation issues. “The female students living in the dormitory have been told to study in their own provinces or otherwise not come to the university. The boys have access to a dormitory, but the girls don’t,” said Hajar, a student.”
Al Jazeera, Afghan public universities reopen with gender segregated classes, 26 February 2022
“Afghanistan’s main universities have reopened six months after the Taliban returned to power, but only a trickle
of women have returned to now-segregated classes. [...]
Some public tertiary institutions in the south of the country resumed last month, but on Saturday Kabul University, the oldest and biggest with a student body of about 25,000 last year, re-opened without fanfare – and few students in attendance.
At least 19 universities and educational institutes were reopened, reported the Kabul-based ToloNews quoting the Ministry of Higher Education.
Basira said there were “some difficulties” – including students being scolded by Taliban guards for bringing their mobile phones to class.
“They did not behave well with us … they were rude,” she said.
Another English student, Maryam, said only seven women attended her class.
“Before we were 56 students, boys and girls,” she said.
Taliban guards refused journalists access to the sprawling campus and did not allow media teams to linger near the entrance.
No students in Panjshir
A similar picture emerged from campuses across the country, although no students returned to class at Panjshir University.
“I do not know if they will come tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, or not,” said Professor Noor-ur-Rehman Afzali.
Panjshir was the last province to fall to the Taliban last year, and Jaber Jibran, a faculty head, said several classrooms destroyed in that fighting had still not been repaired.
The Taliban have said previously that women students must wear a black abaya over their bodies and hijab on their heads, but stopped short of insisting on the all-covering burqa that was compulsory during their previous rule.
Several students, however, appeared dressed no differently Saturday than they would have before the Taliban takeover, with a simple shawl covering their heads.
“I have never worn any hijab before … it’s new for me,” said Sohaila Rostami, a biology student in her last semester
at Bamiyam University.
“I used to wear jeans and other normal clothes. It will be difficult for me to observe hijab,” she told AFP.
In Herat, the ancient Silk Road city near the Iranian border and once one of the Islamic world’s most important
intellectual centres, students also complained about a lack of tutors.
“Some of our professors have also left the country, but we are happy that the university gates are open,” said
Parisa Narwan, studying arts.
In Kabul, student Haseenat said campus life for women was now very different to before.
“We are told not to go out of our classes,” she told AFP.
“There is no cafeteria any more … we are not allowed to go to the university’s courtyard.” “
Ariana News, Afghanistan’s public universities reopen after six months, 26 February 2022
“Shukria Hujat, a student at the Faculty of Environment at Kabul University of Education, is one of the students
who returned to her class.
Hujat says she is happy to return to class, but was surprised by the changes on campus.
“There have been many changes in the university in terms of curriculum and environment. It is more like a Madrasa than a university. Girls are more concerned with their clothes and behavior than their lessons,” Hujat said.
Kabul University is the largest educational center in Afghanistan with thousands of students enrolled there.”
TOLO News, Education Ministry Prepares New Plan for Grades 1-6, 23 February 2022
“The Ministry of Education (MoE) said Tuesday that boys and girls in grade 1-6 will continue their education
separately and at different times based on a new plan.”
““The main points of the plan are as follow: the classes should be separate, the classes should not be at the same time, female teachers are allowed to teach girls and male teachers to teach boys,” said Aziz Ahmad Reyan, the spokesman of the MoE.
Based on the plan, the students’ clothing must conform to the Islamic laws and regulations. “The clothes of students should be based on Afghan culture. Color is not important,” he added.”
“According to some numbers given, over 3.5 million Afghan girls have been barred from school across Afghanistan during the past six months.”
TOLO News, Karzai: Afghan Girls 'Must Definitely' Return to School, 16 February 2022
“Former President Hamid Karzai suggested all girls “must definitely” return back to schools even if the
international community doesn’t push this matter, as it is “absolutely” necessary for the well-being of Afghanistan. According to Karzai, the return of the girls to school and the access of women to work is the demand of the Afghan nation itself. The former Afghan president made the remarks in an interview with France 24. Karzai said there are some initial steps needed to be taken at the national level to pave the way for recognition. “On the issue of recognition by the international community, my proposal has been from the very beginning this--that we the Afghan people need to put our own house in order first,” he said.”
Gandhara News, Six Months And An Eternity: Afghans Lose Hope Under Taliban Rule, 15 February 2022
“Afghan women have endured the brunt of Taliban restrictions and discrimination. Most teenage Afghan girls are still waiting to return to school, while women have lost jobs, businesses, and the expanded societal roles they had
gained over the past two decades. [...] "Women have been completely marginalized politically," Zahra Rahnavard, a resident of Kabul, told RFE/RL. "[The Taliban] had promised to preserve women's rights, but we see nothing.... Everyone is in a state of despair and hopelessness.””
The Guardian, How Afghan Women are Demanding their Education under the Taliban, 10 February 2022
“The country has 34 provinces, but fewer than a third have allowed any of their girls’ schools to reopen, and even fewer have restarted all secondary classes. Millions of girls are being robbed of their right to an education. Tracing where girls were allowed back into high schools and why classes resumed – or in a few cases were never stopped at all – may offer insights into how a disparate band of militants can perhaps be nudged on policy. The areas still permitting girls to study – from Zabul in the south to Herat in the west, and Balkh in the north – have differences in wealth, ethnic makeup, popular support for Taliban and past attitudes to women’s education. Some are templates for resistance where activists have taken on the Taliban with protests, strikes or appeals to local leaders, putting their jobs and perhaps their lives on the line. The Taliban are cracking down on women’s rights activists, and there is growing fear over the fate of six campaigners abducted in Kabul last month. The quality of education has also declined in most schools, teachers privately told the Guardian. A ban on male colleagues meant fewer colleagues and that they lost specialists. There is also the constant threat that the classes may be taken away again. Taliban officials have suggested the five-month-old bar on high-school education for girls is only short-term.”
The Guardian, Afghan universities reopen with strict rules for female students, 3 February 2022
“The media were refused permission by the Taliban authorities to cover the universities’ opening ceremonies, but students in Kandahar yesterday said they were not optimistic about the future under the restrictions imposed on women since the Taliban takeover. Khalida Rashed, an economics student, said there was concern about the low numbers of female students. “I am happy about the reopening of the university, but women are still facing limitations. The question is that even after girls come to university to continue their education in the current
situation, will the Taliban allow them to work after graduation?” she said, urging fellow Afghans, men and women, to support women in seeking their rights. [...] A source in Kandahar University, who commented on the condition of anonymity, said that male and female classes have been separated. The source also added that female students have been asked to follow Islamic dress code. Previously, the Taliban’s spokesperson for the ministry for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice has told reporters that by Islamic dress code they mean burqa and Arabic-style black abaya.”
Afghanistan Analysts Network, Who gets to go to school? (2) The Taleban and education through time, 31 January 2022
“In trying to understand Taleban policy on state education, especially for girls, our first report [published on 26 January 2022] heard from people around the country. They painted a picture of primary schools for boys and girls, and boys’ secondary schools having generally re-opened after the Taleban captured power on 15 August, but of girls’ secondary schools opening only very patchily. The Taleban have said they want to re-open schools for older girls when the environment can be made safe; many fear this could mean a de facto, ongoing closure.”
Afghanistan Analysts Network, Who Gets to Go to School? (1): What people told us about education since the Taleban took over, 26 January 2022
“This series looks at schools (maktabs), rather than madrassas, which impart religious education. [...] The series begins with a report looking at who has been able to go to school since the Taleban took power on 15 August and what changes they have already made to education in Afghanistan. It also briefly looks at the state of the nation’s schools before the Taleban takeover. The report draws on interviews conducted in 40 districts across Afghanistan in the period just before and then in the months following their capture of power. [...] Soon after the Taleban captured Kabul, on 23 August, their Education Commission announced to its “dear compatriots” that following the closure of schools because of coronavirus and the postponement of their reopening “due to the takeover of provincial capitals and Kabul,” all primary schools should reopen for lessons on 28 August. As to the start-back date for secondary schools, “instructions will be given later” (statement here see media reporting here).
Those instructions were issued on 17 September, when the Ministry of Education ordered teachers and pupils back to school, but with a proviso (see the Ministry of Education statement, also quoted here):
All Emirati [that is, government] and private schools, madrasas and dar ul-ulums [advanced madrasas] should restart their educational process from 27 Sunbula [18 September], so all male schoolteachers and male pupils must be present in their work. [...]
That specification, that only men and boys should return to educational establishments rang alarm bells, given that during the first Emirate, the Taleban had banned girls’ education and women working outside the home, except in healthcare. It also became clear that there would be an additional obstacle to getting girls’ secondary schools up and running: “There will be no male teacher for female secondary school pupils and no female teacher for male secondary school pupils,” the minister told the press on 7 October: (quoted by Etilaat-e Roz). Female teachers
make up just 34 per cent of the workforce, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) – a proportion which falls in rural areas where some girls’ schools have relied on some male teachers to operate. The minister said they were working on a plan to create a “safe and secure environment” for girls that complied with the rules of Islam and that would be announced “soon”. Another obstacle raised in mid-January 2022 by spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahed was facilities. He said that for there to be complete segregation, “[i]n heavily populated areas, it is not enough to have separate classrooms for boys and girls — separate school buildings are needed,” as AP reported. Mujahed did not explain why boys should always be prioritised, but if this condition were to be followed through, new school buildings would be needed in some areas.
Many girls’ secondary schools that already fulfilled all the Taleban’s requirements, ie separate buildings and no
male teachers, were still not allowed to open and the Taleban authorities have given no explanation for this. Instead, a patchy, apparently random picture of where girls’ secondary schools were able to open and where doors to classes remained firmly shut has emerged.
Schools for older girls were open, said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Omar Abdi who met newly-appointed Minister of Education Sheikh Nurullah Munir in Kabul on 6 October, in Balkh, Jawzjan, Kunduz and Samangan in the north and Uruzgan in the south (as reported by Associated Press and UN here and here). The press also reported the reopening of girls’ secondary schools in Zabul on 24 November and in Herat where local communities, including female schoolteachers, led by the teachers union, successfully lobbied the provincial Taleban officials, including governor Mawlawi Nur Ahmad Islamjar (see this BBC report from 6 November).
One Herati schoolgirl in particular, Sotuda Forotan, was introduced by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and activist Malala Yousafzai for The Financial Times’ 25 most influential women of 2021, including for a widely-circulated and moving speech she made at a local event attended by local Taleban officials, defending girls’ access to education (watch it here). Following media attention, schools in Herat were ordered to shut down about a week later (see reporting from 13 November here), only to reopen again (see AP reporting from 1 December). Local people from other provinces interviewed by AAN also mentioned that government schools for older girls were open in their
areas, including Ghazni, Kunduz and Faryab, while others said some boys’ schools were still closed. Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told AP on 14 December that secondary schoolgirls were attending classes in ten provinces (without mentioning which).
Nationally, some private schools for older girls are also reported to be still open, although the economy’s collapse has meant fewer pupils, which may force their closure anyway. Community schools, including NGO-supported ones that provide education to older girls, seem to have opened as normal.
[...] On 15 November 2021, as the school year was drawing to a close, Ministry of Education spokesman, Nazar Muhammad Erfan, told Azadi Radio that older girls would not be taking exams:
Boys and girls in grades 1 to 6 will take their annual examinations. Boys in grades 7 to 12 will also physically attend their examinations. However, girls above grade 6 will be promoted to the next grade without examinations so that their academic year is not wasted.
Even girls in grade 12 would not have to pass exams to graduate. This outraged many, including high school girls, who felt cheated and mocked. They wanted “knowledge,” they said, and not just “a graduation certificate” (media report here).
While some girls have been attending class beyond grade 6 in some areas, the question throughout the autumn and into winter was when, and indeed whether the Taleban would allow older Afghan girls to go back to school
nationally. The latest from the Taleban is that the schools will open after Nawruz (see AP reporting from 16 January 2022). Since then, there has been an offer of help from donors: the US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, said in a BBC interview on 22 January:
[Concerning the] opening of girls’ schools in March, we want to open schools of all levels for girls in March, high schools and public universities all. We believe that education is a fundamental right of women. These and many more are important tests for the Taliban as the world watches, and we and the international community are ready to pay the salaries of female teachers across the country if the Taliban opens all girls’ schools.
With Nawruz now only two months away, there is no sign of the promised framework for girls’ secondary schools
to be re-opened.”
The New York Times, ‘Why Was I Born a Girl?’ An Afghan Poem Inspires U.S. Students, 22 January 2022
“Most of Mawoud’s [a tutoring center Fariba now attends in Kabul] 300 students are Hazara, a predominately Shiite Muslim minority ruthlessly attacked by the Islamic State in Afghanistan, ISIS-K. Hazara schools, protests, mosques, a New Year’s celebration and even a wrestling club have been bombed by ISIS-K since 2016, killing hundreds. Two Shiite Muslim mosques attended by Hazaras were bombed a week apart in October, killing more than 90 people. ISIS considers Hazaras apostates. [...] Since the Taliban takeover, several commuter minibuses used by Hazaras have been bombed in the Hazara district of west Kabul known as Dasht-e-Barchi. At least 11 people have been killed and up to 18 wounded, most of them Hazaras, the Afghan Analysts Network reported. [...] The Taliban, who persecuted Hazaras in the past, are now responsible for their security. The analysts’ independent research agency described the Taliban government response as tepid, saying it downplayed the strength of ISIS-K, which claimed responsibility for most of the attacks. On Jan. 14, Afghan media reported that a young Hazara woman, Zainab Abdullahi, was shot and killed at a Taliban checkpoint just five minutes from the Mawoud center. [...] Mawoud prepares students for Afghanistan’s rigorous university entrance exams. But there is no guarantee that girls will be permitted to take the annual exams — or to return to high school, attend a university, or pursue a career in a country where the Taliban have begun erasing most women from public life. The Taliban have said they hope older girls will return to schools and universities, under Islamic guidelines, by late March. Except for some schools in northern Afghanistan, most Afghan girls above the sixth grade have not attended school since August. [...] Mr. Yousefi said that Taliban officials who have visited the tutoring center have not laid down specific rules, as they had at some public schools. He said they have merely stressed adherence to “Islamic values,” interpreted as separating boys and girls and requiring girls to cover their hair and faces. [...] Before suicide bombs killed students at Mawoud in 2018 and at a nearby tutoring center attended by Hazaras in 2020, Mawoud had 3,000 students.
Since the bombings and the Taliban takeover, the size of Mawoud’s student body has dropped by about 90 percent, the principal said. [...]”
Khaama Press, Public universities to reopen in 10 days: IEA officials - The Khaama Press News Agency, 19 January 2022
“Deputy Minister of Higher Education of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan said that all public universities will be
reopened in 10 or 15 days.
Speaking at a gathering in Kabul on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, Lutfullah Khairkhwa said that the universities will reopen only in tropical provinces.
Afghanistan’s educational year is divided into tropical provinces and those where it snows and the winter is colder.
The educational year in the latter starts in March while in tropical provinces, the year is not ended yet. Lutfullah Khairkhwa said that universities will reopen only for the students of last semester and those who are going to graduate.
He added that the Ministry is working on a mechanism to reopen universities for the rest of the students as well. Likewise, other officials of the IEA, Khairkhwa reiterated that the classes of boys and girls will be separated at universities.
It has been nearly six months that 150 public universities in Afghanistan are closed which has affected the
educational career of hundreds of thousands of students.”
Human Rights Watch, Afghanistan: Taliban Deprive Women of Livelihoods, Identity, 18 January 2022
“Girls and women in Ghazni face a range of barriers to accessing education, including the current Taliban ban on the operation of girls’ secondary schools in 27 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, including Ghazni. [...]
“My younger sister wanted to go to the university but now she must stay home,” one woman said. “All universities in Ghazni are closed.”
Girls’ primary schools are open, but the knowledge that secondary school is closed distracts them. “The girls in 6th grade are worried,” a teacher said. “Their mental health is affected – they worry about their future. Seeing the older girls not going to school, they have lost morale.” [...]
Primary school teachers come to work while secondary school teachers wait at home to see if their schools will reopen and their employment will resume. A teacher said that nonpayment of teacher salaries even for open schools is affecting the quality of education: “Some teachers who come to school don’t have the motivation to teach their class, because there’s no salary.”
Private schools have had more flexibility to stay open, but the financial crisis has also hit them. “There are some private schools, but they are about to go broke,” a former government worker said. “People cannot pay for their children’s private schools because they have lost their jobs.” [...]
Teachers reported that the Taliban had already made changes to the curriculum. “More religious subjects have been added,” a teacher said, and subjects such as physical education and art that were deemed “unnecessary” were removed to make space in the school day. Islamic religious studies were already part of the curriculum, but the Taliban have significantly increased the focus on these studies.”
Al Jazeera, Taliban says all Afghan girls will be back in school by March, 17 January 2022
“Girls’ schools across Afghanistan will hopefully reopen by late March, a senior Taliban leader has told the Associated Press, offering the first timeline for the resumption of high schools for girls since the group retook power in mid-August.
Speaking to journalists on Saturday, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for Afghanistan’s government and deputy minister of culture and information, said the group’s education department would open classrooms for all girls and women in the Afghan New Year, which starts on March 21.
Although the Taliban has not officially banned girls’ education, the group’s fighters have shuttered girls’ secondary
schools and barred women from public universities in some parts of the country.
Girls in most of Afghanistan have not been allowed back to school beyond grade 7 since the Taliban takeover, and reversing that has been one of the main demands of women’s rights activists and the international community for months.”
Business Standard, Co-education reason of closure of Afghan universities: Taliban minister, 27 December 2021 “Minister of Higher Education of Afghanistan, Abdul Baqi Haqqani on Sunday said that the reason behind the closure of universities is co-education and economic crisis.
“The Taliban minister said that they have to make separate classes for girls and hire extra lecturers that need more time and extra budget, reported Khaama Press.”
TOLO News, 2021 'Hasn't Been a Good Year' for Afghan Women: HRW, 21 December 2021
“A prominent Afghan women rights activist, Mahbouba Seraj, voiced concerns over the current status of Afghan women.
“When the right of education is taken from girls and women, and they are incapable of doing their activities, and all kind of access is restricted for women, this is the worst situation for women in the country,” she said.
According to her, the main reason for the current crisis in the country is due to women’s isolation from society, including governmental affairs. “I remained here (Afghanistan) to be the voice of women and to warn that no
government can survive,” Seraj said.”
WSJ, After Taliban Return, Afghan Women Face Old Pressures From Fathers, Brothers, 15 December 2021
The Taliban, who follow the ultraconservative rural traditions of Afghanistan’s Pashtun belt, have gone beyond what Islamic scholars elsewhere in the world consider to be appropriate, including restricting women’s education
that women are better off at home. Emboldened by the Taliban comeback, these men are telling their daughters,
sisters and wives to adapt their lifestyles to the new regime and let go of the liberties they enjoyed until August.
TOLO News, UN Alarmed by “Rapid Reversal” of Afghan Women’s Rights, 9 December 2021
"UN Women -- Afghanistan" issued a "Gender Alert" expressing concerns on the Afghan women’s situation, saying that since August 15, there have been rapid reversals for women across all aspects of Afghan society.
The report was meant to "document and analyze" the “rapidly evolving Afghan context” on Afghan women rights
and gender equality.
“Since 15 August 2021, there have been immediate and dramatic reversals on women’s rights and fundamental freedom, particularly impacting their right to work, access to education, basic health and protection services and participation of women and girls in the public sphere and decision-making mechanism,” the report said.
BBC, Afghanistan: Girls' despair as Taliban confirm secondary school ban, 8 December 2021
“Teenage schoolgirls in Afghanistan have told the BBC of their growing desperation as they continue to be
excluded from school more than three months after the Taliban takeover.
"Not being able to study feels like a death penalty," says 15-year-old Meena. She says that she and her friends feel lost and confused since the closure of their school in north-eastern Badakhshan province.”
TOLO News, Facing Closed Schools, Nangarhar Girls Despair Over Future, 29 Nov 2021
“Girls in the eastern province of Nangarhar are concerned about their uncertain future as schools from grade 7 to
12 have remained closed for girls since the Islamic Emirate swept into power in Afghanistan.”
TOLO News, Women Activists Seek Govt, Society Inclusion, 29 Nov 2021
“Many challenges lay in front of women in the previous government; right now, the women do not have access to their rights either--rights to education or to work. We ask the Islamic Emirate to fulfill their commitments that they promised earlier,” said Diana Azizi, a women's activist.”
TOLO News, Girls' Schools Reopened In Ghor’s Capital, 17 November 2021
“Herat and Ghor are two provinces in western Afghanistan where girls are allowed to attend secondary and high
school. After a long delay, female students from grade 7 to 12 were allowed to the attend their schools in
and work. While Afghan men in cities such as Kabul generally consider those views too extreme, many do believe
Ferozkoh, capital of the western province of Ghor. [...]
The schools were reopened as a result of efforts made by the Ferozkoh council. The council urged the provincial education officials to reopen the girls' schools.
“We reached an agreement that the high schools for girls in the capital and all districts of Ghor should be
reopened," said Sultan Ahmad, head of the Ferozkoh council.
“Fortunately, the schools will reopened for the girl students. It is very important because if women are deprived of education, the next generation of the society will not have a bright future,” said Habib Wahdat, a civil right activist. Herat and Ghor are two provinces in western Afghanistan where girls are allowed to attend secondary and high school.”
UNHCR, Afghanistan Situation Update, 8 November 2021
“On 2 November, Waheedullah Hashimi, the Director of External Programmes and Aid at the Taliban’s Ministry of Education, announced that the de facto Afghan government will “soon” begin allowing older girls back into schools, while also urging the international community to help fund this. He added that “no women teachers had been laid off”, and that this was "a positive message to the world that we are working on a mechanism. We are not working on deleting them from our schools and universities”. On 5 November, the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, announced that 10 out of the 14 girls-only schools run by the Maarif Foundation – a Turkish state-funded organisation which runs 80 schools overall in the country – have been reopened. According to Cavusoglu, he had held talks with the Taliban Interim Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi”
Human Rights Watch, Afghan Girls’ Education: ‘I Don’t Think I Have a Future’, 31 October 2021
The Taliban have effectively banned girls from education past primary school by ordering secondary schools, which include grades seven and up, to reopen only for boys. Although Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid claimed on September 21 that the Ministry of Education was preparing for “the education of high school girls as soon as possible,” only a few secondary schools have reopened in some provinces. The ban in most of the country and an unclear Taliban policy makes millions of girls understandably fearful for their education. Even if girls’ schools reopened immediately, their studies, including preparation for exams, plans to graduate, and university applications, have already suffered a severe setback. And the harm increases every day.
Women across Afghanistan continue to protest, asking for schools to reopen and for women’s right to work. “If the Taliban have really changed, they should prove it by letting our daughters go to school and us to go work,” said Zainab, a friend in Kabul who participated in one of these protests.
TIME, Afghanistan's Female Students Were Banned from Studying. Now Some Are Finding New Ways to Learn, 27 October 2021
“Remote Opportunities
[...] Banned from in-person classes in Kabul, hundreds of female students have rushed in recent weeks to register for a remote learning program launched by a California-based nonprofit online university, entering a new program that begins November 1, which is geared specifically at women banished from their education by the Taliban.
[...] But University of the People appears to be the sole organization offering large numbers of full scholarships for Afghan women to earn degrees online, without leaving their homes. Although the students can take the courses for free, they are required to pay fees in order to sit exams and formally graduate. The fees are minuscule compared to average tuition at a U.S. university—about $4,800 for a four-year B.A. degree, and $3,000 for an MBA. Nonetheless, it is out of reach for the great majority of Afghan women.”
Reuters, Afghan minister wants good relations, need more time on girls’ education, 12 October 2021 “Afghanistan's [acting] foreign minister acting Foreign Minister [Amir Khan Muttaqi] appealed to the world for good relations on Monday but avoided making firm commitments on girls' education despite international demands to allow all Afghan children to go back to school.” [...]
But the Taliban have so far refused to give ground on allowing girls to return to high school, one of the key demands of the international community after a decision last month that schools above the sixth grade would only
reopen for boys.
“Muttaqi said the Taliban's Islamic Emirate government was moving carefully but had only been in power for a few
weeks and could not be expected to complete reforms the international community had not been able to
implement in 20 years.”
NY Times, At Afghan Universities, Increasing Fear that Women will never be allowed back, 29 September 2021 [updated 5 October 2021]
“While some women have returned to class at private universities, the country’s public universities, which had been scheduled to start their academic year this week, remain closed to everyone, not just women. Even if they reopen, it appears that women will be required to attend segregated classes, with only women as instructors. But with so few female teachers available — and many of them still publicly restricted from working — many women will almost certainly have no classes to attend.”
BBC News, Afghanistan life under Taliban rule one month on, 16 September 2021
“Private universities like hers are open, but those run by the government remain shut for now. Under the new
Taliban rule, male and female students who are studying in the same classroom must be separated by a curtain.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Gandhara, Taliban Sets Out Restrictions For Women To Study At Universities In Afghanistan, 12 September 2021
“Women in Afghanistan will only be allowed to study in universities in gender-segregated classrooms and Islamic dress will be compulsory, a member of the new Taliban government has said.
Abdul Baqi Haqqani laid out the new policies at a news conference in Kabul on September 12, several days after Afghanistan's new rulers formed an all-male government.
The world has been watching closely to see to what extent the Taliban might act differently from its first time in power, in the late 1990s. During that era, girls and women were denied an education, and were excluded from public life.
The Taliban insurgents have suggested they have changed, including in their attitudes toward women. Haqqani, in charge of education, said the Taliban did not want to turn the clock back 20 years. "We will start building on what exists today," he said.
However, female university students will face restrictions under the Taliban, including a compulsory dress code. Haqqani said hijabs will be mandatory but did not specify if this meant compulsory head scarves or also compulsory face coverings.
Gender segregation will also be enforced, Haqqani said. "We will not allow boys and girls to study together," he said.
Haqqani said that where no women teachers were available, special measures would be adopted to ensure separation.
"When there is really a need, men can also teach [women] but in accordance with Shari'a, they should observe the veil," he said. Classrooms will be curtained off to divide male and female students where necessary, and teaching could also be done through streaming or closed-circuit TV.
Classrooms divided by curtains have already been seen in many places since the Western-backed government collapsed and the Taliban seized Kabul last month.
Haqqani told reporters that subjects being taught in universities would also be reviewed but did not elaborate. The Taliban, who subscribe to a harsh interpretation of Islam, have banned music and art during their previous time in power.
Women in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan have protested in large and small groups against Taliban rule and efforts to curtail their rights. In some cases, the Taliban has responded with force, wielding whips, beating women with batons, pointing guns and firing weapons into the air.”
BBC News, Afghanistan: Taliban accused of killing pregnant police officer, 5 September 2021
“The Taliban on Sunday gave more details of how segregation of the sexes will be enacted in universities.
In an extensive document, the new authorities said men and women must be separated, if necessary by a curtain. Ideally, women will be taught by women but if none are available then "old men" of good character can step in,
AFP reports. Female students must wear an abaya, or robe, and niqab, or face veil.”