“Girls belong in school,” UN Secretary-General concerned about school-deprived Afghan girls

Picture source - AFP

Secretary General of United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres has said that girls in Afghanistan continue to be locked out of the classroom.

In his tweet, Guterres also stated that it was an unjustifiable violation of equal rights that would damage the entire country.

The UN Secretary-General has also said, “Girls belong in school.”

According to media reports, under the Taliban rule, girls above grade 6 are no longer allowed to attend school but accessing education in Afghanistan has been a risky business for anyone.

CNN in a report has stated that while girls’ schools have been targeted by the Taliban and other armed groups like ISKP many times in different parts of the country over the years, education centres for ethnic and sectarian minorities like Shias and Hazaras have also come under attack.

The US signed a peace deal with the Taliban alone, excluding women and the people of Afghanistan, diminishing the chances for a political settlement between the Taliban and Afghan people. The US-Taliban deal paved the way for the Taliban political take-over of Kabul.

Eventually, the removal of public spaces for millions of Afghan women and education opportunities for at least 5 million girls were hindered.