More the 70 countries and EU representatives in a UN CSW statement said the ban on female education puts Afghan women and girls at increased risk of “gender-based violence, including child, early, and forced marriage” and it “undermines Afghanistan’s stability.”
“In addition, the order barring female employees of national and international NGOs from the workplace means that millions of Afghans will be unable to access life-saving humanitarian assistance,” it said.
The statement said one-third of the humanitarian workforce in Afghanistan is female: “They are now unable to work or reach women and other vulnerable people in need of basic support.”
Political analysts and women’s rights activists called the ban on female’s education harmful for the country.
“The Islamic Emirate itself created obstacles for recognition. The important issue is girls’ attendance of school and universities and women’s work,” said Torialai Zazai, a political analyst.
“The ban on women’s and girls’ access to education has caused a lot of problems. On one hand it shows our society as a backward society for the world, and on the other hand our relations will not be good with the regional countries and world as well as Islamic countries,” said Suraya Paikan, a women’s rights activist.
The Islamic Emirate has yet to react to this statement but previously said that the closure of schools for female students above grade six is a temporary issue.
The statement was released by Albania on behalf of Afghanistan, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Ecuador, Egypt, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Palau, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, the State of Palestine, Sweden, Switzerland, Timor Leste, Tunisia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.
