Continued closure of girls’ schools worries UNICEF

KABUL (Pajhwok): The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has voiced its concern at the continued closure of secondary and high schools for girls in Afghanistan.

“Education should not be held hostage to politics,” argued UNICEF’s Director of Global Support and Communications Paloma Escudero.

During a visit to a girls’ primary school in Kabul, she noted girls above the sixth grade had been denied their right to education for more than a month.

Escudero said girl students needed help more than ever. She urged the global fraternity, especially donors, not to stop helping Afghan girls.

“We are in a primary school for girls (in) south of Kabul, and we are here to send a very clear message to the world, to the donor community: Don’t give up on the education for girls in Afghanistan.

“These girls who are studying in primary schools are the hope of this country and they need our help now,” remarked Escudero.

“In one week alone, more than 50 girls and boys have lost their lives in a series of heinous rights violations in Afghanistan,” the UNICEF official said.

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