Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan Statement On The Attack At Kaaj Education Centre In Kabul

Most of those killed are believed to have been young women taking a practice university entrance exam at the Kaaj Education Centre.

The centre lies in an area of predominantly Hazara inhabitants, which highlights the intersecting risks that women, girls and those from ethnic minorities – particularly the persecuted Hazaras – continue to face in an Afghanistan ruled by the extremist Taliban regime, and where there are no protections in place for their human rights and safety.

The attack also highlights that even the limited classrooms that are open at this time, at private schools, face risks and multiple barriers, and when educational spaces, students and teachers continue to be targeted simply for the act of learning.

We are saddened by this horrific loss of life in a time and place where the youth of Afghanistan were exercising their right to pursue their dreams of education and their desires to contribute to a peaceful future for their society. We send thoughts and prayers to the families of those who died, and to all those affected.

CW4WAfghan stands with the people of Afghanistan in their grief and rage, and will continue to work with them in solidarity and in their fight to realize their human right to a safe, inclusive and equitable education.

We call on the Government of Canada and the international community to urgently use every means available to protect the human right to education from attack, and to ensure safe learning spaces for the youth of Afghanistan.