In phone call with Malala, Fawad says Pakistan will support efforts for women's education in Afghanistan

Published August 16, 2021
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry (L) and Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist Malala Yousafzai. — APP/Reuters
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry (L) and Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist Malala Yousafzai. — APP/Reuters

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said on Monday that Pakistan would continue supporting endeavours for women's education in Afghanistan, Radio Pakistan reported

The minister made the assurance during a telephone call with Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist Malala Yousafzai in the wake of the Taliban's takeover of the presidential palace in Kabul.

According to the report, the minister said that Pakistan was providing educational facilities to the children of Afghan refugees. He said that 6,000 Afghan children were currently studying in the country.

During the call, Yousafzai informed the minister about global concerns regarding women's rights in Afghanistan. "Pakistan should play an active role in promoting women's education in Afghanistan," she said.

She added that she had also written a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan in this regard.

On the day of the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, Malala said she was "deeply worried" about women, minorities and human rights advocates in Afghanistan.

"Global, regional and local powers must call for an immediate ceasefire, provide urgent humanitarian aid and protect refugees and civilians," she had tweeted.

On Monday, the Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan over after taking control of the presidential palace in Kabul while Western nations scrambled to evacuate their citizens amid chaos at the airport.

President Ashraf Ghani had fled the country on Sunday as the militants entered the capital virtually unopposed while hundreds of Afghans desperate to leave flooded Kabul airport.

Afghans fearing that the Taliban could reimpose the kind of brutal rule that eliminated women’s rights rushed to leave the country, lining up at cash machines to withdraw their life savings.

However, the militants have sought to project a more moderate face, promising to respect women's rights and protect both foreigners and Afghans.


Additional input from Reuters, AFP and AP.

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