KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Human Rights Commission has commended the government for urging Afghanistan to reconsider its discriminatory decision to ban women from higher education institutions.
However, its chairman Prof Datuk Rahmat Mohamad said the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim-led federal administration should further press the Taliban-held nation on the matter, leveraging on Malaysia’s position as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
He said the government should encourage Afghanistan to accede to the establishment of inclusivity that respects the desire of the Afghan people and restores, respects, and upholds the basic rights of women and girls.
This follows an earlier statement by Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin on Tuesday urging his Afghanistan counterpart to reverse its ban on women in universities.
According to Khaled, he had recently written to Afghan acting Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadeem declaring Malaysia’s stand on the matter, sharing the country’s experience and practice to honour women who contribute primarily to the nation.
He noted how Malaysian women have immensely improved the country’s reputation through sound education, and the harnessing of their talents and skills as equal partners in various industries has helped in Malaysia’s drive to be a high-income country.
“I believe that education for Afghan women will make them a valuable asset to the nation and help build resilience, stability and strong social cohesion towards nation-building,” he said.
Rahmat said today that excluding women from acquiring education is a form of systematic discrimination and clearly violates the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, of which Afghanistan is a member.
He noted that Afghanistan’s move is also in contravention of Article 9 of the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which guarantees equal access to education to everyone including women.
“As universally accepted, education is vital for an individual’s development as well as for improving the situation of a country.
“Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals outlines recommendations on appropriate measures to ensure equal enjoyment of the right to education and that includes no one being left out from obtaining a quality education, as the success of a country would hinge on the level of education of its citizens.” – The Vibes, December 29, 2022
