NEW YORK, Sept 17 (IPS) – Today we stand with solemn hearts as the world this week commemorates the three-year ban on secondary education for girls in Afghanistan.
Today and every day, we must stand up for the millions of Afghan girls and women who live under the yoke of gender apartheid: systematized and institutionalized oppression, exclusion, and marginalization based solely on their gender. However, standing solemnly for their suffering is not enough. We must act to remove the oppression and injustice. Against all odds, we must continue to achieve results to provide girls with access to education well beyond grade six.
As a fierce advocate for girls’ human rights, not least the most fundamental right – their right to inclusive and continuous quality education – Education can’t wait and our strategic partners call on the world through our #AfghanGirlsVoices advocacy campaign. Together and collectively, we have brought together artwork and calls to action from world leaders, and delivered the inspiring stories of hope, courage and resilience directly from Afghan girls and young women who refuse to succumb to oppression and refuse to give up their right to education.
The quotes from Afghan girls are heartbreaking, poetic, and passionate. Some resonate with hope: “Every heartbeat resonates with a rhythm of hope, propelling me forward in my quest for education, despite all odds.” Others chart the abuse and fear that millions of girls face every day: “At just 14, I became a bride when I should have been in ninth grade, learning and playing with my friends. Instead of holding a pencil, I carried the weight of a marriage I never wanted.” Others are defiant: “In the face of adversity, my dreams become my armor, protecting me from doubt and giving me the strength to move forward toward knowledge.”
Celebrities, world leaders and passionate influencers continue to promote the #AfghanGirlsVoices campaign.
“The world must unite behind Afghan girls. Denying them the right to education violates the UN Charter, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and fundamental human rights. Through the #AfghanGirlsVoices campaign, people everywhere can stand up for human rights and gender justice by sharing their words of courage, hope and resilience,” said The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education and Chair of ECW’s High-Level Steering Group.
As Khaled Hosseini, bestselling author of The Kite Runner, puts it: “Today, some three years after Afghan girls were banned from secondary education, 80 percent of Afghan girls and women in school are no longer in school. Many are forced into unwanted marriages. This is a catastrophe because denying Afghan girls access to school not only violates their human right to education and endangers their future, but also endangers the future of their homeland.”
The pursuit of knowledge is an important part of Islam and an important part of fulfilling our universal promises of peace, equality and human rights. Education for all daughters of Afghanistan is essential to the reconstruction of this long-suffering nation.
Today, we call on world leaders everywhere to join ECW and our global strategic partners in calling for an end to the education ban and to take action. We call on you to fund ongoing grassroots education initiatives that defy this illegal and irrational ban. Secondly, we call on you to solve the catastrophe for the girls of Afghanistan that stems from ignorance rather than enlightenment. Afghanistan deserves better and it is urgent.
Yasmine Sherif is director of education can’t wait
IPS UN Office
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
