Afganistan gov’t announces university exclusively for women

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced Thursday a special university exclusively for women and said that he would work to ensure women’s rights.

“The first university for women will be set up at Kabul with the help of Turkey,” Ghani said in a televised speech, days ahead of International Women’s Day, which falls on Sunday.

Education Ministry spokesman Akhtar Mohammed told Efe that the project was at an initial stage and did not mention an official date for its inauguration.

“We have reached an agreement regarding the plan, but practical work on the project has not yet begun,” said Mohammed.

According to the spokesman, around 300,000 people are enrolled in universities throughout the country, and only 25 percent of them are women.

“There is a higher enrollment of women in bigger cities like Kabul and Herat, but in the southern and eastern regions the percentage goes down. In some universities there are no women,” Mohammed explained.

There is lack of female education not only at the university level in Afghanistan but also at the basic level, with a literacy rate as low as 20 percent among Afghan women.

In addition to announcing a women’s university, the president also said that his government would try to include women in the cabinet and other positions of power.

“I promise to preserve and protect the goals achieved by former president Hamid Karzai’s government and bring a positive and sustainable change to the lives of Afghan women,” Ghani said.

“Our message is clear: women should occupy positions like ministers, provincial governors and ambassadors,” he added.

In February, Ghani was criticized for not having a single woman in the eightminister, appointed cabinet. The void of female inclusion led to demonstrations in Kabul as protesters demanded at least four women in government which has a total of 25 portfolios.