Nobel Prize-winning education activist Malala Yousafzai has criticised the Taliban for their recent actions that have rolled back women’s rights and access to education in Afghanistan, Khaama Press, an online news service dedicated to providing information about Afghanistan reported.
She expressed her profound dismay at the “complete reversal” of women’s rights and education in Afghanistan.
Addressing the audience at the United Nations House in Abuja, Nigeria she said, “Ten years ago, millions of Afghan girls were going to school.
“One in three young women were enrolled in university. And now? Afghanistan is the only country in the world to ban girls and women from seeking education.”
Malala recounted her harrowing experience of facing Taliban brutality when she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 due to her advocacy for girls’ education.
She said, “I was shot and nearly killed for speaking out against these injustices. I did not know if my first speech at the UN would be my last, my only chance to ask the world to send every girl to school.”
During her address, the education activist urged the international community to take more decisive actions in supporting girls and women in Afghanistan.
“We must not allow the Taliban to take away the dreams of an entire generation,” she said. “We must not allow them to silence the voices of women and girls.”
Since the Taliban assumed control of Afghanistan, it has imposed repressive decrees, such as banning women and girls from attending secondary schools in March 2022.
Subsequently, in December last year, the Taliban further enforced restrictions by barring women from attending universities and working with aid agencies.
Despite facing widespread condemnation from the international community, these decrees continue to be enforced, severely limiting women’s access to their fundamental human rights.
(With inputs from ANI)
