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Bennett describes IEA as united but divided over girls’ education
The UN’s Special Human Rights Rapporteur for Afghanistan, said on Sunday at the Doha Forum that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has a unified vision, but is divided on the issue of women’s education.
According to Richard Bennett, a former Minister of Higher Education of the Islamic Emirate was dismissed for supporting women’s education.
He did not name the dismissed official, but before Nada Mohammad Nadim, Acting Minister of Higher Education, Abdul Baqi Haqqani was acting minister of higher education.
“The unity of the Taliban (Islamic Emirate) is one of their strengths, because they consider unity to be very important. But in the matter of education, I don’t think they have this integrity. We have seen this difference in some statements,” Bennett said.
He also said that in a meeting with the former minister of education, the official talked about providing education for girls in universities in separate classes.
“We had detailed technical discussions about the education of women and girls,” Bennett said. However, the minister was removed from his post a few months later, Bennett said.
Bennett said it was probably because “Kandahar saw his views on education as very open and progressive.”
At the same time, the special representative of the US for Afghanistan’s women’s affairs and human rights also said in this meeting that the Islamic Emirate’s policies towards women have no religious or economic basis.
Rina Amiri, criticized the restrictions imposed on women’s right to education, work, travel and political participation, and said that these restrictions have no economic basis. According to the United Nations assessment, due to the unemployment of women in Afghanistan, $1 billion dollars of income has decreased and the work ban and ban on women’s education has had a destructive effect on families.
“I don’t think it has an economic basis, certainly not,” said Amiri.
She said the United Nations has “estimated that Afghanistan has lost more than $1 billion dollars in income, and this is actually destroying Afghanistan.”
Emphasizing that banning women’s education and work has no religious basis, Amiri said that 57 countries in the world said at the meeting of the Islamic Organization that banning women’s education and work is in conflict with Islamic values.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with religion,” she said. “I was earlier at the conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation of Women in Jeddah, where 57 countries participated and said that this is against the holy religion of Islam, this is politics.”
The Islamic Emirate, however, says that human rights and women’s rights are provided within the framework of Sharia law and they do not allow outside interference in internal matters.
Pakistan on Friday summoned Afghan Deputy Head of Mission in Islamabad to convey “strong demarche” over a deadly attack on a military camp in North Waziristan District that killed four Pakistani soldiers.
In a statement, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the attack was carried out by a faction of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The statement said that Pakistan conveyed “grave concern over the continued support and facilitation” provided by the Islamic Emirate to TTP.
Pakistan has demanded “a full investigation and decisive action against the perpetrators and facilitators of the terrorist attacks launched against Pakistan from Afghan soil.”
It urged the Islamic Emirate “to take immediate, concrete and verifiable measures against all terror groups operating from its territory, including their leadership, and deny the continued use of Afghan soil for terrorism against Pakistan.
According to the statement, the Islamic Emirate has been “categorically informed that Pakistan reserves the right to defend its sovereignty and protect its citizens, and will take all necessary measures to respond to terrorism originating from Afghan soil.”
Pakistani officials have repeatedly claimed that attacks in the country are originated from Afghan soil, a charge the Islamic Emirate denies.
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has underscored Afghanistan’s continued importance in regional cooperation, saying the country remains one of the key areas of interaction among regional partners.
Addressing the first summit of the “Central Asia Plus Japan” dialogue, Mirziyoyev said participating countries share a common aspiration to see Afghanistan become peaceful, stable, and oriented toward meaningful development.
The Uzbek president praised Japan’s longstanding and consistent support for Afghanistan, noting that Tokyo has for many years been among the leading donors and partners assisting the Afghan people.
He expressed confidence that coordinated efforts and joint contributions by regional countries and Japan would help improve living standards in Afghanistan, advance socio-economic and infrastructure development, and facilitate the country’s active involvement in regional economic projects.
The Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan announced on Friday that the country has allocated $19.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
In a statement, the Japanese Embassy said it hopes the aid will help bring positive change to the lives of vulnerable Afghans.
According to the statement, the assistance will cover the basic humanitarian needs of vulnerable communities in Afghanistan.
The embassy added that the aid will be delivered through United Nations agencies, international organizations, and Japanese non-governmental organizations operating in Afghanistan.
Japan’s total assistance to Afghanistan since August 2021 has reached more than $549 million.
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