“The UN Children’s Fund ( UNICEF) mentioned that secondary schools will reopen in Afghanistan after a long holidayor closure due to Covid 19. The fact which was stressed was “Girls will not be kept away from the classroom”.
The chief minister of UNICEF Henrietta Fore showed her concern that many girls cannot return to school at this time. She said that no girls should be left behind. The news reports mentioned that schools were reopening from the Taliban and only boys will go to school. It mentioned no reference for girls and their return date to their school. The Taliban Run education ministry mentioned only boys to go to school and start their education. The women were earlier prohibited by the Taliban not to go to school and sit back in their homes. The news channel portrayed the return date of boys to school.
The line said by the chief minister of UNICEF “No girls should be left behind and everyone should study” shows that all the girls whether younger or older must start their education again without any kind of delays. She even added that female teachers are needed in the schools to resume teaching.
The militant group of Taliban ruled Afghanistan from the 1990s to 2001. When the Afghan government collapsed and all the international troops withdrew in August, the Taliban agans regained their control. This created a concern amongst everyone that a harsh interpretation of Islamic law will be reimposed and this would further prohibit all the girls from attending schools.
The United Nations organized a pledging conference to come forward and extend the lifeline to many vulnerable people. Almost 4.2 million children were not enrolled in school and amongst them, 60% of students were girls. This conference was held before the recent humanitarian crisis.
The Taliban has abruptly shut down and closed the ministry of women’s affairs as the women were protesting in favor of female employees outside the building. The building changed into a Ministry of propagation of Islamic Virtue. This emerged on Twitter as well. The new Taliban government which has been formed did not consist of any female member that would represent the marginalized women of the country. The Taliban spokesperson on the other hand said that all the rights of women will be protected as well as he urged them to join the government.
The chief minister of UNICEF made a statement that each and everyday girls are missing out on their education and their opportunity to go ahead. This is indeed a missed opportunity for the girls and their communities. They are lagging. If we look at the condition of the country’s children, there have been improvements for this which should be respected and protected by all of us. There has been an increment of threefold in the number of the schools and progress in education has been made significantly over the past two decades. There has been a surge in the attendance of children which went from 1 million to 9.5 million.
UNICEF is working hard, urging development partners and giving its efforts to support educational opportunities for all children especially girls in Afghanistan.
The chief minister of UNICEF concluded that the United Nations Children’s Fund will continue to work hard so that all the children should get equal opportunity and chance to come forward, learn and develop important skills. All the children should come forward and be brave enough to build a productive and peaceful Afghanistan.
Aishwarya Says:
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