For millions of girls in Afghanistan, it has been four long years since the ban on secondary education came into force, one of many rights abuses rolled out by the de facto authorities since they regained control of Kabul. At the time of the ban, girls like Fatima Amiri were the target of violent extremists determined to drive them away from school and learning. She was 17 when a suicide bomber blew himself up in her classroom in the capital in 2022, killing more than 50 of her friends and leaving her with lifechanging injuries. Today, living outside the country, she’s an education advocate for Afghan girls who are desperate for their schools to reopen. It’s a fundamental right that has been taken from them, Ms. Amiri insists. “They are crying, they are sending me many messages and saying that we want the right [to] education,” she says. “They are in a very bad situation… the only thing they had was education, but right now they do not have it.”
Afghanistan: Ban on secondary education for girls marks four long years | | UN News
