Marking Malala Day, the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Thomas West, has reiterated that women and girls in Afghanistan deserve full access to education.
The UN has designated July 12, the birthday of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, as “Malala Day.”
West said in a tweet that “Afghan women and girls are a tremendous asset to the future of Afghanistan and deserve full access to education to realize their potential.”
Rina Amiri, the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Women and Human Rights, also praised Malala for her work.
Women and girls in Afghanistan are now effectively denied their basic right to education, following the Taliban’s takeover of the country in August 2021.
In March 2022, the Taliban barred girls from attending secondary school. In December, the group banned tertiary education for women and girls and also prohibited women from working for non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The Taliban’s restrictions on women’s rights to education and work have been met with widespread condemnation from the international community and human rights organizations. Despite these calls for the Taliban to reverse its policies, the group has responded by imposing even more restrictions on women.
