RASC News Agency: Human Rights Watch announced that 120 countries, excluding the United States, have signed the “Safe Schools Declaration” and urged the U.S. to join this declaration and support the education of girls in Afghanistan. On Tuesday night, June 11, Human Rights Watch released a statement quoting Zama Neff, Executive Director of its Children’s Rights Division, stating that the U.S. had facilitated education for girls in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years and should now support Afghanistani girls by joining the “Safe Schools Declaration.”
In the last two years, the U.S. has not supported girls’ education in Afghanistan, instead sending money to the Taliban. These declarations have had limited practical impact. The recently released statement said, “Given the Taliban’s severe restrictions on girls’ education in Afghanistan, the United States must join the Safe Schools Declaration and support the global movement to protect education against these restrictions.”
According to the statement, one of the reasons for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan was to support girls’ education. Human Rights Watch noted that during its presence in Afghanistan, the U.S. had provided educational opportunities for thousands of Afghanistani girls. It has been over a thousand days since girls above the sixth grade in Afghanistan were barred from attending school. The Taliban do not allow girls to study, deeming it an improper and Western practice.
Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, they have prohibited girls above the sixth grade from attending school and have closed university doors to female students. The Taliban have repeatedly claimed that they are working to create a safe educational environment for girls in schools and universities, a claim that remains unsubstantiated.
