Call for immediate removal of Taliban’s ban on girls and women’s education in Afghanistan
Date: 23 January 2023
His Excellency Mr Antonio Guterres,
Secretary General
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
Your Excellency,
First, I would like to thank you for your efforts for global peace and I am taking this opportunity to wish you a happy New Year. I hope the year 2023 will provide us some respite from violence and repression with fundamental human rights around the world and especially in Afghanistan.
As we were concluding the violence-stricken year 2022, the Taliban banned women from university education on December 20, 2022 and suspended women from employment at national and international non-government organizations on December 24, 2022. They had previously banned girls from secondary education, public parks and sports clubs. The Taliban have issued over 30 directives since they took over Afghanistan in August 2021, targeting all aspects of women’s lives, virtually erasing women form public and systematically reversing the gains Afghan women had achieved over the past two decades.
Afghan women can no longer get outside of their homes without the fear of getting arrested. If they dare to go outside alone or talk to someone not related by blood or marriage, they will be detained, prosecuted on charge of moral crimes, and will be subjected to public and private flogging. Dozens of women are being flogged on daily basis on ideological grounds. These repressive, inhumane and degrading measures are harming Afghan girls and women permanently on a scale unimaginable.
Your Excellency,
Under the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 8.92 million students, 3.38 million of whom were female, had enrolled at 15, 572 schools in 2012-2013 academic year. It was a remarkable achievement compared to less than one million students Afghanistan had in pre-2001-era.
In 2018 the enrolment number rose to around 10 million with the number of girls in primary school increasing from almost zero in 2001 to 2.5 million in 2018.
In 2020, Afghanistan had 172 higher education institutions with 39 public and 128 private. These universities provided enrolment opportunities for 422, 869 students, out of which 53% were in private and 47%, were in public higher education institutions.
Many steps were also taken to enhance the quality and gender equity in education. These achievements were not possible without generous support provided by the international community.
The reemergence of Taliban as the governing force has put all achievements related to education in serious risk. They have reversed much of the progress made in the past two decades, which is the cause of great concerns among the Afghan people, and in particular among the women and girls, lecturers and researchers.
The Taliban’s approach towards women’s education not only violates the human fundamental rights (Articles 26 & 27, Universal Declaration of Human Rights), but it is also clearly against the Islamic values and orders. Islam urges both men and women to seek knowledge. This is why Islamic countries have unanimously condemned the Afghan Taliban’s ban on higher education for women and girls. What is happening in Afghanistan is a gender apartheid and may amount to a crime against humanity.
Furthermore, as SDG 4 indicates, an inclusive and quality education for all women is an important element in promoting peace and prosperity for people and planet. Girls’ education is is also interlinked to the realization of many other goals, from achieving No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and wellbeing, to Gender Equality, Descent Work and Economic Growth, Reduced Inequalities, and Peace and Justice. With this in mind, the Taliban’s prohibition of education to half of the Afghan population is a decision that has disastrous consequences for the future of Afghanistan and will drive more Afghans to leave the country.
Beside the ban on women’s education, the Taliban’s ongoing efforts to radicalize school and university curricula is another matter of high concern. The proposed changes will replace scientific subjects and modules with hard-line content in an effort to radicalize Afghanistan’s children and the young generation.
I welcome Her Excellency Amina Jane Muhammad’s recent visit to Afghanistan on 18-19 January 2023. While I am deeply thankful to her and the accompanying delegates for discussing women’s rights to work and education with the Taliban leadership, given the Taliban’s lack of interest in international relations, education, and progress, I believe that they would remain reluctant to make any meaningful change towards girls’ education.
Therefore, I call on the United Nations and its member countries to:
- Stay in solidarity with the Afghan women and support them in protecting their rights and freedoms. The UN and international community should increase their diplomatic pressure on the Taliban regime to reverse the multiple bans. Women must be allowed to work and to move freely, and girls must be allowed to continue to go to school and university. The norms and principles which are fundamental for the progress of the higher education should be maintained.
- Continue and increase its support and assistance for Afghan female students as well as Afghan lecturers and researchers by providing more scholarship programs for education and research, and supporting home schooling and online platforms or academies for sustaining the female education in Afghanistan. Online education offers unique and essential teaching and learning opportunities for women and girls who have been prevented from both teaching and attending the university classes.
- Provide urgent protection measures and support to the protesting professors and lecturers who continue to defy Taliban’s order. Responding to the unjust and immoral ban on women education, several university professors and lecturers have resigned from public and private universities. While they are continuously growing in numbers in submitting their resignation letters, I am deeply concerned about their security. Their resignation was considered by the Taliban as an objection to Islam, which means they may face brutal punishment or detainment if they are not back to university. Thus, it is requested that they be provided with protection as well as financial support as they are losing their jobs.
- Ban all supports to the Taliban (direct or indirect). Taliban must be held responsible for their actions and faced with more pressure and sanctions under international human rights law. The international community is misled by the Taliban’s false promises and is awaiting for more than one year and half for the Taliban to respect human rights. They, however, continue to ignore almost all human rights standards. It is time to step up efforts to ensure accountability for violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law. Impunity will further violations and deteriorate the human rights situation in the country.
- While online education for women and girls in Afghanistan is very valuable and must be established and maximized, its value, however, might be affected by the limitations on access to the internet and its unreliability within Afghanistan. Therefore, it is further recommended that international opportunities be urgently created, on a considerable scale, so that a large cohort of women and girls can study abroad.
- Until the Taliban take significant steps in respecting human rights including by reopening girls’ schools and universities and until the time that it gets ready for an intra-Afghan dialogue on future political system and building a broad based and representative government, they should not be on a path to recognition.
As a former minister serving Afghanistan’s young generation under the internationally-recognized Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, I remain increasingly concerned about the long-term repercussions of the Taliban’s continued crackdown on women, girls, and minority groups. The Taliban’s reckless and repressive violations may continue if the United Nations and the international community do not resort to stronger punitive measures. The academic community of Afghanistan is hopeful to get a positive response.
I avail my best wishes.
Dr. Abas Basir
Former Minister of Higher Education of Afghanistan and the following scholars:
1.Dr. Mohad Qasim Wafayzada, Former Minister, Ministry of Infromation&Culture
2.Sayed Farhad Shahid Zada, Former Deputy Minister of Higher Education
3.Dr. M. Osman Babury, Former Chancelor, Kabul University
4.Dr. Abdulla Fayez, Former Chancelor, Heart University
5.Dr. Abdul Aziz Mohebi, Former Chancelor, Bamian University
6.Dr. M. Jawad Salehi, Former Chancellor, Gawharshad University
7.Dr. Mohammad Aziz Bakhtyari, Ex-Chancellor, Kateb University
8.Dr. Faizullah Jalal, Ex-Vice Chancellor, Kabul University
9.Dr. Salim Saay, Ex- Director of Information & Technology, Ministry of Higher Education
10.Hamid Obaidi, Former Spokesman, Ministry of Higher Education
11.Dr. Zakir Hussain Ershad, Ex-Vice Chancellor, Avicenna University
12.Mohammad Hadi Akbari, Advisor, Ministry of Higher Education
13.Abdul Ali Nekhat
14.Abdul Aziz Javid
15.Abdul Rashid Ahmadi
16.Abdul Wasie Rahraw Amzad
17.Abdullah Halim
18.Ahmad Omid Rashiq
19.Ahmad Shekib Nikfar
20.Ahmad Zia Feroz Poor
21.Ali Ahmad Kaveh
22.Ali Akbar Nasiri
23.Ali Atayee
24.Ali Hekmati
25.Ali Khan Yazdani
26.Ali Omid
27.Ali Reza Mahdian
28.Aliyawar Farid
29.Amina Ahmadi
30.Ara Hussaini
31.Arif Bahram
32.Arif Rezayee
33.Assadullah Ehsani
34.Assadullah Zairi
35.Azizullah Aziz
36.Barakzay
37.Basir Ahmad Danishyar
38.Bonyad Omid
39.Dawood Rasa
40.Dr. Masuma Waezi
41.Dr. Abdul Hamid Noori
42.Dr. Abdulkhaliq Qasimi
43.Dr. Abdullah Danish
44.Dr. Alireza Rohani
45.Dr. Anwar Mohaqeq
46.Dr. Arif Sahar
47.Dr. Assadullah Amiri
48.Dr. Azizullah Kazimi
49.Dr. Dawood Mirzayee
50.Dr. Esmatullah Sharifi
51.Dr. Fatima Ahmadi
52.Dr. Gillian Wylie, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
53.Dr. Ghulam Sakhi Ehsani
54.Dr. Jafar Ehsani
55.Dr. Javid Fazli
56.Dr. Hafiz Shariati
57.Dr. Hassan Ali Anwari
58.Khalilullah Habibi
59.Dr. Kava Jebran
60.Dr. Mahdi Safdari
61.Dr. Mahdi Sedaqat
62.Dr. Maryam Sultanis
63.Dr. Marzia Mohammadi
64.Dr. Marzia Sultani
65.Dr. Mehri Rezayee
66.Dr. Mohammad Ahmadi
67.Dr. Mohammad Ali Bayani
68.Dr. Mohammad Aziz Nishat
69.Dr. Mohammad Esmaeel Ammar
70.Dr. Mohammad Jawad Asghari
71.Dr. Mohammad Jawad Borhani
72.Dr. Mohammad Musa Akbari
73.Dr. Mohammad Noori
74.Dr. Mohammad Reza Rezayee
75.Dr. Mohammad Qasim Elyasi
76.Dr. Mohammad Sadiq Dehqan
77.Dr. Mohammad Saleh Mosleh
78.Dr. Mohammad Shafaq Khawati
79.Dr. Mohammad Younus Toghyan Sakayee
80.Dr. Mohmmad Amin Reshadat81.Dr. Moheqqi
82.Dr. Mursal Dawoodi
83.Dr. Nasir Arian
84.Dr. Omar Sadr
85.Dr. Qudsia Frotan
86.Dr. Razia Bromand
87.Dr. Sayed Hussain Fasihi
88.Dr. Shegufa Akbharzada
89.Dr. Sina
90.Dr. Somaya Ahmadi
91.Dr. Wazir Ahmad Habibi
92.Dr. Yaqub Yasna
93.Dr. Yahya Baiza
94.Dr. Zainab Abulfaz
l95.Dr. Zamin Ali Habibi
96.Dr.Shakardokht Jafari
97.Ehsanullah
98.Eid Mohammad
99.Emal Sobat
100.Esmatullah Mawj
101.Farhad Sultani
102.Farida
103.Fatima Ibrahimi
104.Ghulam Abbas Faiazi
105.Ghulam Haidar Rezayee
106.Ghulam Reza Paikar
107.Ghulam Yahya Tahiri
108.Habibullah Sorosh
109.Hadi Kheradwarz
110.Hamid Safwat
111.Hamida Naderi
112.Hanifa Alizada
113.Hazrat Askarzad
114.Husnia Saadat Mahdawi
115.Hussain Bakhsh Nazari
116.Hussain Dad Saadat
117.Hussain Haidari
118.Jamalludin Jama
l119.Javid Baktash
120.Javid Safwat
121.Javid Sokut
122.Kazimia Mohaqeq
123.Khadija Hassani
124.Khalil Ahmad Matin
125.Khodad Mohseni
126.Kubra Zafari
127.Latifa Miran
128.Leonie O’Dowd, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Ireland
129.Mahram Ali Khalili
130.Masuma Haidari
131.Masuma Ibrahimi
132.Masuma Mohammadi
133.Mir Ahmad Parsa
134.Mohammad Alem Zafar
135.Mohammad Ashraf Bakhtiari
136.Mohammad Eisa Darwish
137.Mohammad Fayeq Latoon
138.Mohammad Fedakar
139.Mohammad Gulzari
140.Mohammad Hanif Tahiri
141.Mohammad Jawad Mohammadi
142.Mohammad Jawad Sultani
143.Mohammad Jawad Tawakoli
144.Mohammad Mohsin Rezayee
145.Mohammad Nabi Khedri
146.Mohammad Reza Faiyaz
147.Mohammad Salim Tabesh
148.Mohammad Sharif Mohammadi
149.Mohammadullah Rafie
150.Mohebullah Zafar Nezhad
151.Mohmmad Sharif Tayeebi
152.Mujaheda Khajazada
153.Mukhtar Haidari
154.Mustafa Shafiq
155.Nader Shah Soha
156.Nafisa Saeedi
157.Nargis Akhlaqi
158.Nemat Hassani
159.Poya Ghaznawi
160.Qasim Erfani
161.Qodratullah Rahmat
162.Rahima Tofan
163.Reza Shah Watandost
164.Ruknuddin Sarwari
165.Sakhi Bayramli
166.Salahuddin Samandari
167.Sayed Ashraf Gardezi
168.Sayed Murtaza Alizada
169.Sayed Nasim Rahman
170.Sayed Rasol Saadat
171.Sayed Zmary
172.Sayed Zubair Hashimi
173.Sediqa Mushtaq
174.Shafiqullah Shafiq
175.Shokria Barakzay
176.Sohaila Erfani
177.Somaya Ghulami
178.Suhaila Ahmadi
179.Suhrab Bakhtari
180.Swita Akbari
181.Yazdan Hatami
182.Zarif Hassan
