UNAMA head Roza Otunbayeva criticizes violation of rights of Afghan women, girls

TOLO News is an Afghan news channel broadcasting from Kabul.

Otunbayeva was speaking at the international conference "Women in Islam" which was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by the OIC. She said women and girls in Afghanistan have been denied access to high schools and higher education.

She said: "Women and girls, these restrictions have denied them access to high schools, higher education, and just about every sphere of social, economic, cultural, and political life. Regrettably, these limitations have become integral parts of the governing system presented by the Taliban...."

"As those doors of opportunity closed to the Afghan women, I think it is absolutely correct for Muslim countries to ask of the Taliban as to who has given them the right to close the door of opportunity exclusively for women," said Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs for the Cabinet of Pakistan, Hina Rabbani Khar.

"The time has come ... this suspension has to stop. We, the people of Afghanistan, women of Afghanistan, and you, the most important organisation for the Muslim world, let's repeat this message and find a solution for women of Afghanistan," said the head of the Afghan Women's Association Fatana Gilani.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid rejected the violation of women's rights in the country and said that the issue of education in the country can be solved but it takes time to solve it.

"First, this is that the rights of the sisters will be addressed. Secondly, regarding the education of sisters, a part of their education has been suspended, which has not been denied, but the search is ongoing to find a suitable solution," Mujahid noted, as per TOLO News.

This comes as more than eight hundred days have passed since schools above the sixth grade were closed for girls, an issue that has always had internal and external reactions, but the Islamic Emirate has yet to speak about the reopening of schools for girls. (ANI)