UN Body Wants Girls Back To School In Afghanistan

Posted by Eric Ojo Asia, Latest Headlines Friday, March 25th, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the United Nations (UN) global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, has called on the authorities in Afghanistan to allow girls return to school.

ECW supports quality education outcomes for refugee, internally displaced and other crisis-affected girls and boys, so that no one is left behind. The organization works through the multilateral system to both increase the speed of responses in crises and connect immediate relief and longer-term interventions through multi-year programming.

ECW also works in close partnership with governments, public and private donors, UN agencies, civil society organizations, and other humanitarian and development aid actors to increase efficiencies and end siloed responses.

Despite the assurance that they are “committed to the right to education of all citizens”, Afghanistan’s de facto authorities, according to ECW, announced this week that they will not allow girls to attend secondary school until further notice.

In a statement is attributed to Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

Despite the assurance that they are “committed to the right to education of all citizens,” Afghanistan’s de facto authorities announced this week that they will not allow girls to attend secondary school until further notice.

“To support a peaceful and prosperous future for all Afghans, the de facto authorities must ensure the right to education for all children and adolescents across the country. Ensuring that both girls and boys can return to school, including the resumption of adolescent girls’ access to secondary education, is key for the development of the country”, the Director of ECW Yasmine Sherif said in a statement made available to the media.

While boys have been able to access primary and secondary school since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, girls’ access to education has been limited to primary school in most of Afghanistan’s provinces. With this announcement, an entire generation of Afghan children and adolescents could be left behind.

According to the statement, Afghanistan faces a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with over half the population (24.4 million people) in need of humanitarian and protection assistance. “Today, an estimated 8 million school-aged children need urgent support to access education”, it added.

This is a crucial moment for the de facto authorities to make good on their commitments. “The time has come to fulfill the right to education for all girls and boys in the country. Knowledge is the pillar of any flourishing nation”, the statement stressed.

ECW has been supporting community-based education in Afghanistan since 2018, together with our strategic partners in the UN system, donors and civil society, reaching children in the most challenging contexts.

The ECW-supported Multi-Year Resilience Programme focused on the most marginalized children, including a strong focus on female teachers and girls’ education, with 60 percent of all children reached being girls.