US Condemns Taliban Decision to Ban Women From Universities in Afghanistan
The US condemned on Tuesday, December 20, the Taliban’s decision to ban Afghan women from attending universities, describing it as “indefensible”.
“The United States condemns, in the strongest terms, the Taliban’s indefensible decision to ban women from universities, to keep secondary schools closed to girls, and to continue to impose other restrictions on the ability of women and girls in Afghanistan to exercise their human rights and their fundamental freedoms,” Department of State spokesman Ned Price said.
Price said the Taliban’s decision to restrict girls attending secondary schools in March had “had a significant impact” on US engagement with Afghanistan, and that the Taliban had promised it would be temporary.
“Now, we hear the opposite: An order from the so-called Higher Education Ministry yesterday states that women cannot attend universities either,” Price said. “Furthermore, the Taliban have permanently sentenced Afghan women to a darker and more barren future without opportunity. No country can thrive when half of its population is arbitrarily held back.”
The Taliban said the decision was to preserve “national interest” and women’s “honour”, Al Jazeera reported. Credit: US Department of State via Storyful
Video Transcript
- The United States condemns in the strongest terms the Taliban's indefensible decision to ban women from universities, to keep secondary schools close to girls, and to continue to impose other restrictions on the ability of women and girls in Afghanistan to exercise their human rights and their fundamental freedoms.
The Taliban's decision to close secondary schools to girls last March has had a significant impact on our engagement with Taliban representatives. The Taliban made promises to the people of Afghanistan and to the international community that schools would reopen they claimed that this was a matter of procedures and arrangements would be quickly reversed. Now we hear the opposite.
An order from the so-called Higher. Education Ministry yesterday states that women cannot attend universities, either with the implementation of this degree-- decree, half of the Afghan population will soon be unable to access education beyond primary school.
Afghanistan is already losing more than $1 billion per year in contributions that women could be making to the economy. Now the Taliban have imposed these losses on the Afghan people for the indefinite future.
Furthermore, the Taliban have permanently sentenced Afghan women to a darker and more barren future without opportunity. No country can thrive when half of its population is arbitrarily held back. Education is an internationally recognized human right and it is essential to Afghanistan's economic growth and stability.
This unacceptable stance will have significant consequences for the Taliban and will further alienate the Taliban from the international community and deny them the legitimacy they desire.
