UN special envoy concerned over educational rights of Afghan women and girls

The UN’s Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, has expressed concern over the human rights situation of Afghan women while presenting her report on the situation in Afghanistan at the meeting of the Security Council of this organization held late Wednesday.

At the meeting, Otunbayeva said although the Islamic Emirate said work on the plan to reopen schools and universities for girls is underway, time is passing and a generation is being left behind without education.

“The situation of schools is also worrying, the international community wants to cancel the ban on education and education of Afghan women and girls,” she said, adding that “we want the education of all women and girls of different age groups, although the rulers of this country say they are trying to provide the conditions, time passes and a generation remains away from education.”

In this meeting, Robert Wood, the deputy representative of the US in the UN, stated that his country’s interaction is conditional on the change of the IEA’s policy towards women.

“Until women’s access to real education, work and social life is not provided, America will not consider normal relations with the Taliban [Islamic Emirate],” said Wood.

However, IEA’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected these claims about the violation of human rights, especially women’s rights, and said that women’s rights are secured within the framework of Islamic Sharia and work is going on in other areas for their rights.