The Girl Education Crisis In Afghanistan

"It's a worsening crisis for all Afghans" (AP News). In August 2021, the Taliban banned all girls from engaging in school education past sixth grade. Since then, Afghanistan has become the only country with such restrictions. This ban has caused outrage in different parts of the world. Non-profit organizations such as UNESCO have looked to intervene, with hopes of mitigating the situation. However, the Taliban justified this ban by claiming "it didn't comply with their interpretation of Islamic Law, or Sharia." (Rahim Faiz). The discontinuance of girls education in Afghanistan has significantly impacted their economy forcing people's income to plummet significantly.

During the period of 2001-2021, Afghanistan's economy was improving gradually. Lutfullah Safi, an employee of the department of natural resource management in Afghanistan, states "Rapid economic growth took place in the last twenty years in Afghanistan" (Safi). Even though there was a war in Afghanistan, the economy was doing better than expected. However, "the poverty rates remained higher than twice that of South Asian countries". As much as the public claims the ban on girls education began in 2021, as of 2017 girls were unsure of the future of their education. The Human Rights Watch, which consists of journalists and experts in different countries, claims there were still problems with girl education. Khatera, a fifteen year old afghani girl shared, she had to walk a great distance to the nearest girls school, oftentimes she was forced to take a donkey or a horse. Apart from this poverty persisted and discrimination towards girls intensified in communities, leading to girls being forced to stay home.

Along with this, On October 3rd 2023, the world bank group, one of the most reliable money-related databases in the world issued a statement claiming, "The Afghan economy is expected to hover around no growth territory this year", this was caused by the lack of job creation in the country. Jobs like nurses, doctors and teachers have seen a heavy decline as these jobs were often occupied by women. Since 2021 "Services, which make up 45% of the country's GDP, shrank by 6.5% last year, following a staggering 30% drop in 2021" (IBRD). Afghanistan's economy varies but remains on a steady decline since the ban of girl's education. The Taliban has been reluctant to change as they claim "they would open schools and universities for girls after arranging segregated classes for girls and boys" (DW), no further information regarding this issue has been released. As of now, Afghani girls have been left to their own devices as along with education they have been prohibited from visiting public parks, public gyms, and many other public places. They've also been banned from boarding planes and leaving their own country. However they have permission to leave their houses for urgent matters, only if their black veils are worn. The Afghan economy is in a detrimental state and is in need of immediate attention.

Some say there's no hope for Afghanistan, as the Taliban has proven to be reluctant in changing their laws anytime soon. They have repeatedly stated, "girls are banned from schooling beyond the age of 11" (The Guardian), however there are ways we can aid this problem. Since the government has seen a drop in the economy and a significant decrease in the GDP (Gross domestic product), methods can be implemented to change the minds of the Taliban or cause a revolt in the community. People can engage leaders in small communities and religious leaders. This would be effective as the ban of girls engaging in education was set on the basis that it conflicted with their religious beliefs, so if a respected religious figure in the Islam community were to voice their opinions, we might be able to see a brighter future. As much as this solution might seem plausible, it might not be possible as this hasn't worked in the past. However, there are some methods that Afghanistan can implement in order to see economic improvement. Small changes such as investing in infrastructure, and empowerment of women. This can only happen if they reform their policies. Investing in infrastructure, like building schools in rural areas would allow education to be more accessible, and can lead to a significant increase in the enrollment of girls. I understand that this can only occur with policy reform, and the government of Afghanistan taking a leap of faith, but if the Taliban put this into action the economy would impose significantly as the future looks brighter with girls joining the education system, while employing more men and women to educate these girls would stimulate their economy and improve the income of many individuals. This is possible because it has been seen in the past, Haiti has suffered multiple earthquakes, yet through all these earthquakes they have still found ways to improve their economy. One thing they did was create job opportunities, being forced to rebuild forced Haiti to build schools in rural areas, so children have access to education, and adults have job opportunities. Teaching is not the only job opportunity offered by schools, since schools have to be built from the ground up, construction workers have to be hired. This benefits the economy as it creates a ripple effect in other industries, since they need materials like steel, wood and cement. James, a construction worker in Haiti who helped build states, "Although, I didn't use to know anything about construction, I received training and I like this job now" (Islamic Relief), this shows how small jobs can foster growth by providing skill sets that people can use in other industries. Although construction is a short term job, it paves the way for many job opportunities such as teachers, administrators, maintenance workers and more. These jobs allow individuals to earn incomes, while slowly stimulating growth in the economy. This would be effective in Afghanistan as small improvement and job provision like this could lead to long term success in their economy.

What can I add to this essay to make it better?

Could you change the Haiti example to another very credible example taht can strengthen my economic point of view?