Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 21/12/2022
Following the decision by the de facto Administration in Afghanistan to close down universities for girls and women for an unspecified period, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), H.E. Hissein Brahim Taha, expresses his grave concern and denunciation of this disconcerting decision.
The move by the de facto government through its Ministry of Higher Education is all the more dismaying for the OIC, as the Secretary-General and his Special Envoy for Afghanistan have both repeatedly and insistently cautioned the de facto authorities againsttaking such a decision. The latest such cautionary message was relayed by the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan during his visit to Kabul in mid-November 2022.
Suspending access by female students to Afghanistan's universities, H.E. Taha believes, will go a long way in seriously denting the credibility of the government in place, just as it will deny Afghan girls and women their fundamental rights to education, employment, and social justice.
The OIC, though still committed to its engagement policy with the de facto administration, cannot but denounce the decision, calling on Kabul authorities to reverse it for the sake of maintaining consistency between their promises and actual decisions.
