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UNICEF Chief: Taliban Committed to Let Girls Back to School By Gregory Stachel 2022/3/1
Catherine Russell is the newly appointed chief of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
She said on February 25 that the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan are showing a
“commitment” to permitting girls to go to school across the country next month.
The international community has demanded the Taliban continue educating women.
Russell was appointed earlier in February. She said it remains to be seen if the
Taliban’s commitment to reopening schools for girls and women on March 21 will
change conditions or restrictions.
Russell told the Associated Press that Taliban officials have given UNICEF signs
that they will open schools for girls and women. She said that “we are hopeful that
is going to happen, and we believe it should happen.”
Even though there is no legal ban, girls around the age of 12 have effectively been
barred from going to school in most of the country since the Taliban took control
six months ago. The Taliban government has blamed delays on lack of good
spaces, especially in cities, to support schools that must have a separate area for girls.
Schools in about 10 provinces have continued without stopping since the Taliban
takeover. Private universities and schools in the capital, Kabul, have remained
open. Universities for women have also restarted in several provinces. The Taliban
government has promised all universities will reopen for women in the coming weeks.
Apart from statements saying that schools will re-open for all girls, little else has
been made public about other possible restrictions or changes in education.
Russell said she met with Taliban officials this week to discuss concerns from child
health to rights to education.
The United Nations and international organizations face growing difficulties with
Afghanistan’s increasing humanitarian crisis. The U.N. projects this year that
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over one million children will need treatment for malnutrition and that 97 percent
of Afghans could be living below the line of poverty. A UNICEF $2 billion request
from donors for aid is only 17 percent financed.
Kabul’s Indira Gandhi Hospital for Children is filled with mothers from across the
country seeking treatment for their malnourished babies.
Zermina Mohammed said she did not have the $10 needed to pay for medication.
She asked a family member in Kabul for the money. But as she held her sick baby, she said she still needs more.
As more people become poor, billions of dollars of Afghanistan’s foreign monies
are blocked to the still un-recognized Taliban government. The government is still
unable to pay public workers, including people in health and education. Donors
and nongovernmental-organizations have picked up the costs.
Russell said money from the European Union is paying teachers. She said that the
system is by no means a long-term solution.
“It’s not something that humanitarian organizations can solve on their own,” Russell said.
commitment – n. a promise to do or give something
province – n. any one of the large parts that some countries are divided into
humanitarian – adj. concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare
malnutrition – n. the unhealthy condition that results from not eating enough food
or not eating enough healthy food
poverty– n. the state of being poor
de-facto – adj. used to describe something that exists but that is not officially accepted or recognized
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