Afghanistan Peace Campaign
Malala Yousafzai, an advocate for girls’ education, urges Britain’s new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, to prioritize the issue of girls’ education deprivation in Afghanistan and other countries in his foreign policy.
Yousafzai tweeted on Monday, July 8th, “As you shape Britain’s foreign policy and development plans in the next 100 days, it is crucial to prioritize the rights and education of girls worldwide, with special consideration for those denied education under the Taliban’s gender apartheid regime in Afghanistan.”
The education activist and Nobel laureate addressed Starmer, noting that girls everywhere look to him for solidarity and initiatives.
She emphasized that girls’ education should be on top of his foreign policy agenda in the next 100 days.
For over a thousand days, girls above the sixth grade in Afghanistan have been deprived of education by the Taliban. The Taliban claim that the conditions for girls’ education are not suitable, yet they provide no timeline for reopening schools.
Under Starmer’s Labour Party leadership, which secured a significant majority in this week’s UK parliamentary elections, he reversed the previous conservative government’s decision to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, a move that adversely affected Afghan refugees in the country.
Meanwhile, Yousafzai’s call underscores the urgent need for global attention and action to ensure girls’ education rights are upheld, particularly in regions affected by extremist regimes like the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Starmer’s government faces significant international expectations to lead on this issue, reflecting broader global concerns about human rights and gender equality in education.