KABUL (SW) – The top US envoy for Afghanistan, Thomas West has met former president Hamid Karzai to discuss the state of girls’ education in the country.
“A pleasure to speak yesterday with @KarzaiH We exchanged views re: the Afghan people’s desire to see girls return to secondary school soonest, and the need for a nat’l consultative process to determine country’s future”, he tweeted.
Earlier, in response to the Islamic Emirate’s decision to close girls’ high schools, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan called the decision a ‘betrayal’ with the Afghan people and the international community. He had said he would join millions of families to express his deep shock and disappointment towards the Islamic Emirate’s decision.
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai also called for the immediate reopening of all girls’ schools and called on the government of the Islamic Emirate to pave the way for a more developed Afghanistan for girls. Karzai had stressed that the Islamic Emirate should not allow the plan of foreigners to be implemented, who want Afghanistan to remain a country deprived of education, in need and dependant on others.
Last month, the United Nations Security Council expressed deep concern over a decision by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to deny girls access to high school education and called on the group to reopen schools for female students without delay.
“The members of the Security Council … reaffirmed the right to education for all Afghans, including girls,” a statement from the United Nations on Sunday said.
