In Afghanistan, the Taliban-led government has stated that reopening schools for girls across the country was their responsibility, and not a result of international pressure to do so.
On Thursday, Acting Minister Maulaee Noorullah Muneer made the remarks during a meeting with Deborah Lyons, the United Nations General-Special Secretary’s Representative for Afghanistan, in Kabul, according to the Afghan news agency Khaama Press.
Muneer asserted that girls have a right to an education and that it is the responsibility of the Taliban government to ensure that they receive one.
Taliban officials have announced that higher education institutions for girls, as well as public universities for both boys and girls, will reopen in the upcoming academic year, which begins in March of this year.
Since the Taliban seized control of the country in August 2021, at least 150 public universities for boys and girls, as well as all public higher education institutions for girls, have remained closed.
Universities across the country for both male and female students will reopen, according to the Taliban’s Minister of Higher Education, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, who made the announcement earlier this month. However, classes will be separated for boys and girls.
He did not, however, provide an estimated date for the reopening.
Meanwhile, according to local media, the United Nations delivered USD 32 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan on Thursday, which was delivered to the Afghanistan International Bank (AIB).
According to Khaama Press, the Central Bank of Afghanistan (Da Afghanistan Bank) stated that UN assistance to Afghanistan is continuing and that they have received USD 32 million in cash. Afghanistan Bank said in a statement that the money had been delivered to the Afghanistan International Bank………………………………….. (AIB).
As stated in the statement, they applaud all humanitarian aid efforts that have the potential to make a positive difference in the lives of those in greatest need. The amount of money is part of a process that will see the United Nations provide Afghanistan with USD 20 million per week until March 2022, according to the UN.
Afghanistan has been battered by a deepening economic, humanitarian, and security crisis since the Taliban seized control of Kabul on August 15, and the country has suffered as a result. A combination of international sanctions against the Taliban, a suspension of foreign aid, the freezing of Afghan government assets, and the suspension of foreign aid have thrown a country already suffering from high levels of poverty into a full-blown economic crisis.
The Afghan people have received a variety of assistance from the international community, which includes everything from governments to non-governmental organisations.