Karzai Again Calls for Girls’ Access to Education

Image: © Claire Harbage / NPR

Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, has again called for education opportunities to be provided for girls and boys. He says universal education and the training of skilled professionals could prevent the spread of illiteracy, poverty and social crises in Afghanistan.

Karzai wrote on his X account on Wednesday (15 July), referring to UNICEF’s latest report on rising child malnutrition, that protecting children’s health is essential for Afghanistan’s future.

In a report published on 12 July, UNICEF warned that around 3.7 million children under the age of five in Afghanistan face a growing risk of malnutrition. The agency called for urgent action to protect children’s nutrition, with a focus on children under two, and to strengthen health and social services.

Karzai said the responsible authorities and international organisations must adopt serious and coordinated programmes to prevent the risk from increasing. He added that one of the essential conditions for reducing Afghanistan’s long-term problems is providing universal education for all children, both girls and boys, and training skilled professionals.

This is not the first time the former Afghan president has called for schools and universities to reopen to girls. He has previously warned that the continued exclusion of girls from education would weaken Afghanistan’s human capacity and increase the country’s dependence on foreign aid.

Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have banned girls from education above the sixth grade and women from attending universities. Afghanistan is now the only country in the world where girls and women are barred from secondary and higher education. Nearly 2.2 million girls have been prevented from continuing their education beyond primary school.

UNICEF has warned that the continued ban on girls’ education and restrictions on women’s employment could leave Afghanistan without more than 25,000 female teachers and health workers by 2030. This would further weaken women’s and children’s access to education and healthcare.

While millions of children face malnutrition, poverty and exclusion from education, the Taliban have so far failed to respond positively to widespread domestic and international calls to reopen schools and universities to girls.