UN Calls on Taliban to Respect Afghan Girls’ Right to Education

Afghan students leave school classes in a primary school in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 27, 2021. Rahmat Gul/AP Photo

The U.N. Security Council called on the Taliban on March 27 to “respect the right to education” of all female students in Afghanistan, expressing “deep concern” over the armed group’s decision to close schools for girls above the sixth grade.

The Security Council “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,” according to a written statement.

The Taliban had previously announced that it would allow schools to reopen for all students before reversing the move on March 24, saying that girls’ high schools would remain closed pending a ruling on standardized uniforms for students.

The Security Council said it has asked the U.N. Special Representative for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, to engage with relevant Afghan authorities and stakeholders on the issue and report back on progress.

The council also emphasized the importance of efforts by the international community to support Afghanistan, including on education.

The international community has made the education of Afghan girls a key demand for any future recognition of the Taliban ruling, which took over Afghanistan in August 2021 after the United States withdrew its forces.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on March 23 that Washington rejects the Taliban’s excuses for reversing its commitment to the people of Afghanistan that all Afghans would be able to return to school at all levels.

“As many girls and women were returning to secondary classrooms across the country, they were told to go home until further notice. We stand with Afghan girls and their families, who see education as a path to realizing the full potential of Afghanistan’s society and country,” Blinken said in a statement.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also issued a statement calling the Taliban’s decision to close girls’ secondary schools “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,” Guterres said, urging the Taliban to open schools for all students without any further delay.

The last time the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, which was from 1996 to 2001, the group banned female education and most employment.

Reuters contributed to this report.