2023's International Day of Education: Standing with Afghan Women

Education is a fundamental human right, a common benefit, and a civic duty.

January 24th marked the International Day of Education, and this year’s driving theme and primary focus is protecting Afghan women's rights to an education, UNESCO announced.

The organisation's director general reiterated that "education is a human right" in response to the Taliban forces' "assault" on the country's education laws for women.

"No nation should prevent women and girls from pursuing an education. "Education is a fundamental human right that must be upheld," declared Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO.

"The international community must ensure that Afghan women's and girls' rights are swiftly restored. The war on women has to end, she continued.

After prohibiting the education of women and girls in most schools while maintaining that the prohibition was "not permanent," it ordered universities all over the nation to stop teaching women, breaking its pledge to abolish the ostensibly temporary ban.

Since then, as Ruth Arnold noted, the international education community has stepped forward to help and try to provide avenues for Afghan girls to learn.

"There are useful ways we can assist. Afghan students who are detained might have access to technology. Actually, according to the Afghan Women's Organization, this is frequently one of the only ways to communicate with women and girls," Arnold stated.

"Online resources keep education alive despite frequent power outages. While the Taliban's ban on education is in effect, programmes like FutureLearn's free online certification programme maintain possibility.

They also demonstrate that Afghan women students have been remembered by their international classmates, which is equally essential, she continued.

According to UNESCO, the fifth annual commemoration of the day would encourage "continuing strong political mobilisation around education" and "transform commitments and global efforts into action." Additionally, it stated that prioritising education will hasten the UN's SDGs' implementation "against the backdrop of a global recession and a climate crisis."

"No society can stifle education indefinitely." "Lock up your books if you like, but there is no gate, lock, or bolt you can lay upon the independence of my mind, as Virginia Woolf once said," Arnold concluded.