Thread by @smithkabul

The Taliban’s decision to prevent girls from attending secondary schools is terribly disappointing, and could have far-reaching consequences for Afghanistan’s relationship with the world. This thread offers some initial analysis and context. 1/

Afghan schools opened and shut several times in recent years as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country. All schools were closed for health reasons in June 2021 and further disruptions resulted from the Taliban takeover in August 2021. 2/ aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacifi…

The Taliban reopened public schools for boys—but not girls’ secondary schools—on 18 September. Pressed for answers, the Taliban claimed to be “working hard” to allow girls and women of all ages to obtain education. 3/ reuters.com/world/asia-pac…

Months of silence followed from the Taliban authorities. Calls for education became a leading demand from a protest movement of Afghan women. Taliban responded to demonstrators with violence. 4/ pbs.org/newshour/show/…

The vagueness of the Taliban’s rules allowed some girls to continue attending classes after 6th grade. Public and private secondary schools re-opened for girls in parts of Balkh, Kunduz, Herat, and Zabul provinces. 5/ nytimes.com/2021/10/27/wor…

In many places the local Taliban authorities were responding to the demands of residents who wanted education for girls and young women. 6/ voanews.com/a/unique-effor…

In late November 2021, the Taliban started to make promises that schools across the country would open to women and girls at the beginning of the new school year in March 2022. 7/

https://twitter.com/BBCYaldaHakim/status/1462931202952863748?s=20&t=woYtj_qqyYdlEY07WZOaQA

The Taliban’s promises raised hopes among girls and women — and also among diplomats, not only because millions of Afghan girls deserve education, but as a bellwether of the Taliban’s willingness to engage with international concerns and the diversity of the Afghan people. 8/

On 21 January, US Envoy Tom West said that if all girls’ schools reopened in the spring, the U.S. and international community would be ready to pay teachers. 9/

https://twitter.com/TOLOnews/status/1484443647303389187?s=20&t=KQFZETFR4y-mjnbKB5IShA

A few days later, on 24 January, the Ministry of Education confirmed for the first time that girls’ high schools would reopen in March. 10/

https://twitter.com/Shamshadnetwork/status/1485280412733558789?s=20&t=gsXuy_4JGgL1AR5gUKyl1w

A spokesman from the Ministry of Education publicly reconfirmed the opening of girls’ secondary schools as recently as 17 March. 11/ newsweek.com/taliban-allow-…

Then a number of senior Taliban leaders travelled to Kandahar, the southern province where the Taliban movement originated and many top leaders reside. 12/

https://twitter.com/Abdullah_azzam7/status/1505592038636593159?s=20&t=YHjTIpXv9LsvLbRJyTvwLg

It’s unclear what happened in Kandahar, but some reports claim that the Taliban’s top leadership council met to discuss education policy and decided to forbid girls’ secondary schooling. 13/

https://twitter.com/syssfz/status/1506481006701862914?s=21

Taliban officials in Kabul received the message from Kandahar on the evening of 22 March and told reporters the following morning. “All girls’ secondary schools above Grade 6 are advised that their studies are suspended until further notice.” 14/

https://twitter.com/BakhtarNA/status/1506554233159569412

“Whenever a working plan that is in accordances with Islamic Law and Afghan values and culture is developed and an order is issued by the Emirate's leadership, then these girls’ secondary schools will be informed.” 15/

Firstly this was disastrous news for female students. Secondarily, it was a PR disaster for the Taliban because girls were already in classes and journalists were on hand to record the first day of the school year. Girls wept; some protested. 16/ bbc.com/news/world-asi…

Not all girls’ secondary schools across the country were shuttered but, as @Afghan_Policy told @nytimes, the move indicated the Taliban “becoming hard-line on a lot of issues.” 17/ nytimes.com/2022/03/23/wor…

@Afghan_Policy @nytimes Even members of the Taliban appeared to be unsettled by the decision; one Taliban official reportedly said that banning girls’ schools has no political, cultural or religious justification 18/

https://twitter.com/afghananalyst2/status/1506548437331890176?s=21

@Afghan_Policy @nytimes Commentators who rarely criticize the Taliban spoke up against the decision. A well-known podcaster said, “This government is turning into a joke.” 19/

https://twitter.com/paykhar/status/1506646390268694528?s=20&t=ZzN6y6lijpashe756VtjIQ

@Afghan_Policy @nytimes Faced with tough questions, a Taliban official told reporters on a WhatsApp chat that “It is only a technical issue of deciding on form of school uniform for girls. This is the cause of postponement. We hope the uniform issue is resolved and finalised as soon as possible.” 20/

@Afghan_Policy @nytimes The pretence that schooling is a “technical” and not a political matter may provide an opening for further talks between the Taliban and Western officials—who are obviously frustrated. 21/

@Afghan_Policy @nytimes “Profoundly disappointing and damaging,” were the words of the UN Secretary-General 22/

https://twitter.com/antonioguterres/status/1506671743926161411?s=20&t=Yv4UkdEhmzlsq6mtJ1LSQA

@Afghan_Policy @nytimes This undermines trust between the Taliban and the outside world at the worst possible moment, as international donors think about how to answer calls for billions of dollars in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan. 23/

@Afghan_Policy @nytimes On 31 March, the UN, United Kingdom, Germany and Qatar will co-host a virtual pledging conference aimed at raising $4.4 billion for humanitarian needs, the largest ever UN request. 24/ un.org/press/en/2022/…

@Afghan_Policy @nytimes Even before the decision on girls’ education, concerns were growing that the war in Ukraine would distract donors. 25/

https://twitter.com/smithkabul/status/1504843460557299715?s=20&t=Yv4UkdEhmzlsq6mtJ1LSQA

@Afghan_Policy @nytimes The ban on teenage girls attending school adds to the difficultly of fundraising for Afghanistan, especially in European capitals. A senior EU official called it a “major setback”. 26/ eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/h…

@Afghan_Policy @nytimes Not only does it call into question the Taliban’s willingness to make even the smallest compromises for the sake of working with international donors, but it also casts an unflattering light on the secretive process of Taliban decision-making in Kabul and Kandahar. 27/

@Afghan_Policy @nytimes A wise decision by the Taliban would be to recognize the outcry and reverse the policy quickly. Cooperation between the Taliban and international donors is urgently required to avoid a famine. This is not a moment to waste time on arguments over school uniforms. /end

@Afghan_Policy @nytimes (Thank you to @Afghan_Policy for research, translation and valuable insights as we scrambled to make sense of this today.)