UN secures deal to set up thousands of schools in Taliban territory
THE United Nations has reached an agreement with the Taliban leadership to set up thousands of schools inside insurgent-controlled territory.
A nationwide scheme with the UN’S children’s body, Unicef, will see up to 4,000 informal schools operate in Taliban territory in Afghanistan, after months of negotiations with militant envoys in Qatar. The agreement covers education for both boys and girls, but will begin with classes for just the first three grades of primary school, both sides told The Daily Telegraph.
Unicef said it hoped the agreement would reach more than 120,000 young children in a country where an estimated 3.7 million children are out of school, three fifths of them girls.
Charities and aid groups have often made local deals to gain access to specific Taliban-controlled areas, but the Unicef agreement is thought to be the first nationwide education arrangement with the group’s political office in the Qatari capital, Doha. Community-based schools, often run in people’s homes, will be paid for by the UK and Us-backed Global Partnership for Education.
The agreement comes amid tortuous attempts to kick off a peace process between Ashraf Ghani’s government and the Taliban, and as American troops are quickly withdrawing f r om Afghanistan. The Taliban have so far refused a ceasefire and relentless violence has killed scores each week.
The Taliban movement, which was notorious during its Nineties regime for banning girls’ education, either controls or contests swathes of the country. As Taliban sway has grown, the militants have tried to piggyback on government and aid agency services to win over residents.
“By bringing schools to their areas and attracting education funding, they are attempting to show Afghans they can provide something,” said Ashley Jackson, co-director of the Centre for the Study of Armed Groups.
“The fact that they’ve struck a deal with the UN also shows that they’re able to work with the international community on their priorities, like education.”
Unicef hailed it as a breakthrough in getting education to children. “What really has worked is that both sides right from the beginning had a willingness for this,” said Sheema Sen Gupta, Unicef ’s director in Afghanistan.
“We really want to have kids in schools and [the Taliban] really want to have their kids educated.”
Ms Sen Gupta said the schools agreement had stemmed from negotiations on polio vaccinations. The Taliban banned door-to-door polio campaigns in 2018, accusing health workers of being spies.
A senior Taliban education official confirmed the agreement. “Indeed, we reached an agreement. Now we are waiting to start classes soon, but Covid19 might cause further delay.”
The Taliban had said that they were willing to accept girls’ education until the end of primary school, said Erinna Dia, Unicef ’s head of education in Afghanistan. The agreement begins with the first three years of school, but may expand later. “We are going to make sure that those girls in these areas have access to education,” she said.
The schools will be run by aid charities. The agreement takes in 680 informal schools already run by aid agencies. It will then scale up to 4,000 schools.