Markus Potzel, the UN deputy special envoy for Afghanistan, in an interview with CCTV said that many officials of the Islamic Emirate are in favor of girls’ education.
Potzel said that after talks with the officials of the Islamic Emirate, he has seen promising signs of changes in the Kabul officials’ approach to women’s rights issues.
“There are some signals, for instance, when I talk to the Taliban leaders in Kabul, de facto ministers, de facto deputy prime ministers, when I go to the provinces talk to provincial governors, district governors and I have not met anybody who is not in favor of girls’ education. That shows to me that majority in this country are promoting girls’ education support women’s rights,” he said.
Meanwhile, some female students in the country expressed concerns over the closure of girls schools and asked the Islamic Emirate to reopen schools as soon as possible.
“We girls have our own distinct ambitions and we want to develop our future and build our motherland together with the other class of society, which are the men, and work for its progress,” Hadia, a student told TOLOnews.
“Two gatherings of clerics have been held, but nothing was said about the schools and the reopening of schools. They all remained silent and did not give any rights to the girls,” Farhat, another student, told TOLOnews.
Previously, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the political deputy of the Foreign Ministry, Anas Haqqani, a senior member of the Islamic Emirate, Farooq Azam, an adviser to the Ministry of Energy and Water, and a number of other Islamic Emirate officials have called for the reopening of girls’ schools.
“Closing girls’ schools and the mentality against women’s education is considered as one of the fundamental elements and one of the intellectual ideas of the Taliban,” said Mahdi Afzali, an expert on the international relations.
However, the Islamic Emirate has repeatedly said that the reopening of girls’ schools depends on the decision of the leadership of the Islamic Emirate.
