AFGHANISTAN Kabul, the Taliban want to expel NGOs from schools. UN: ‘it’s horrible’

The Taliban intend to prohibit with a law the activity of international organizations in the education sector. A reality already affected by the ban on girls studying. The UN spokesman spoke of a “step back” for the population. In recent days, 80 students have been poisoned in the north of the country.

Kabul () – Extreme concern over a decision they describe as “horrible” and with serious consequences. The United Nations makes no secret of its fears and criticism of the announcement by the Taliban rulers in Kabul that they intend to ban international groups active in the education sector in Afghanistan. If carried out, it would be a severe blow both for education in the country, from which girls are largely excluded, and for the third sector, activism and women’s freedom, already deprived of the possibility of working. with foreign non-governmental organizations.

The spokesman for the UN Secretary General, Stéphane Dujarric, stressed that “if implemented”, this law “will be another horrible step backwards for the people of Afghanistan and especially for women and girls.” “Our colleagues in Kabul – added the UN expert – are talking to the authorities. We are trying to find out exactly what they plan, but we have nothing official. “Everyone has the right to education and we want to make sure that children and young adults have access to it,” he concluded.

If approved, it would be the latest in a series of restrictions imposed by Quranic students since their return to power, not to mention the December 2022 decree that banned women from working in non-governmental organizations. Despite initial promises, the Taliban progressively reduced the human rights and civil liberties that had been so hard to win in recent years, especially affecting the pink universe, which “disappears more and more” from public life. Thousands lost their jobs or were forced to resign from government institutions and the private sector.

The school world and female education have long been a sensitive issue in Taliban Afghanistan. In recent days, following in the wake of what happened several times also in neighboring Iran, some 80 girls were poisoned and hospitalized in two different attacks carried out inside primary schools in the province of Sar-e-Pul, in the north of Iran. country. Mohammad Rahmani, from the Sangcharak provincial education department, said the incident affected 60 girls at the Naswan-e-Kabod Aab school and another 17 at the Naswan-e-Faizabad school.

In addition, he added that the author of the poisoning, whose identity remains unknown, would hold a “personal grudge” against the institutions. This is the first case since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 and began its policy of repression of the rights and freedoms of women in particular, both young and adult. Girls are barred from studying after sixth grade, including university, and women are barred from most jobs and public spaces.