International Pressure Mounts on Taliban to Reopen Girls’ Schools

DID Press: As Afghanistan begins its new school year, international organizations and diplomats have renewed calls for the Taliban to reopen schools for girls beyond sixth grade.

Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia, wrote on X that it is time to reopen school doors for Afghan girls, emphasizing that hope, dignity, and the future begin with education. Tajuddin Owywali, UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan, echoed the message, stressing that girls’ education strengthens communities and brightens the nation’s future.

Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, warned that the school year is starting while girls remain barred from secondary education and women from universities, urging the immediate end of these restrictions. Richard Lindsay, UK Special Representative for Afghanistan, highlighted that excluding women and girls from education damages the country’s future. The Italian Embassy expressed hope that all girls will one day return to classrooms.

Despite these calls, the Taliban opened the school year without allowing girls beyond sixth grade to attend, leaving Afghanistan as the only country in the world where girls cannot continue education after primary school.