Afghan girls going back to school ‘primary concern’, says Karzai

KABUL (Khaama Press): In an interview with Canada’s CBC TV, the former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, said on Monday that allowing girls to return to school is the Afghan people’s ‘primary concern’.
He said banning women’s education is a very serious issue for Afghanistan and the children in our country.
He emphasized that “education is the foundation of a country’s well-being, not only for Afghanistan but for every other society as well, and our effort has been intensely increased to bring back our girls to school, not only secondary and high school, but university and the workplace as well, said Karzai.”
Meanwhile, he expressed his concern about “leaving people from the country, especially young, educated ones adding that this is a disaster and a massive loss for the country, as it is already suffering the lack of proper human capital.”
Since August 15, 2021, the de facto authorities have banned girls from attending secondary education, limited women’s and girls’ freedom of movement, excluded women from the majority of the workforce, and prohibited women from going to gyms and public baths.
Simultaneously, the special envoy for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, expressed concern about the restriction on Afghan women.
She emphasized that the “Taliban’s gender-based human rights breaches constitute gender persecution, a crime against humanity, for which United Nations experts have urged the Taliban to be looked into and held accountable. “This cannot continue,” she said.
Several international organizations, including the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, expressed concern over restrictions on women’s and girls’ education and work.
However, still, the Taliban-led government has not brought any changes in their policies regarding women’s rights to education and work.