South Asia Director of UNICEF Daniel Toole recently expressed concern as families in Afghanistan become increasingly fearful of sending their young daughters to school while anti-government and Taliban attacks on education centers are pronounced.  With dismay and uneasiness, Toole reported that the state of education for girls was “probably worse now than a year ago…reversing a trend of improvements over the last few years.”  He added, reflectively, “In general, the situation is so much better than three or four years ago…we have to recognize that.”  UNICEF estimates that there are 1.7 million girls presently enrolled in schools across Afghanistan, while only 18% of Afghan women can read and write.  Taliban rule from 1996-2001 had imposed a comprehensive ban on the education of all girls, and though laudable progress has been made, there remains a significant, marginalized effort to move forward on universal education for all Afghan children.  Vital Voices will monitor this developing situation of an arrant abuse of the basic human right to education, recognizing that the education of young girls is integral to the progress of a larger movement for the actualization of human rights.

Attacks threaten gains to Afghan girls’ education: U.N. -Reuters