The UN's envoy has called for urgent steps from the Taliban regime to make sure that all Afghan girls are able to attend schools in Afghanistan.
Deborah Lyons, the UN envoy, also raised her concerns about threats and restrictions on media in Afghanistan. She met Khairullah Khairkhwa, the Taliban's acting minister of Information and Culture. "@DeborahLyonsUN & Khairullah Khairkhwa @AfMoic spoke today on education & media freedoms. The UN envoy urged urgent steps for all girls to return to school. Concerned by threats & restrictions against media, she called on @AfMoic to engage journalists in a constructive dialogue", tweeted UNAMA News.
The UN envoy's call has come in the backdrop of the Taliban extending the indefinite ban on the secondary education of Afghan girls.
Since the Taliban took control of the administration in the country, the media freedom also continues to crumble in Afghanistan, with women journalists being hit the hardest, as four out of five of them no longer working. The de facto ban on girls' education in classes 6 and above was supposed to be lifted on the first day of Afghanistan's new Academic year.
Taking to Twitter, UNAMA wrote on March 26, "Taliban decision on girls' education will cause irreparable damage to Afghanistan if not reversed. @DeborahLyons message to the Taliban today, meeting in Qatar with their Doha office head @suhailsaheen".
The Taliban has announced that boys can continue their education normally but there will be a stay on education for girls beyond grade 6 and above.
