Refugees in countries neighboring Afghanistan: Germany supports scholarships for Afghan female students

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Female students near Kabul University at the end of December: "The Taliban's policy is not only misogynist, but also poison for the country's development"

Photo: ALI KHARA / REUTERS

The Development Ministry wants to enable around 5,000 Afghan women to study at a university in a neighboring country.

The ministry announced that the scholarship program, funded with seven million euros, is intended to support refugee Afghan women in Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh in particular.

The radical Islamic Taliban, who have ruled Afghanistan since the summer of 2021, banned women from studying at the end of December.

"The policy of the Taliban is not only despising women, but also poison for the country's development," said Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD).

"Because if you deny half the population educational opportunities, you rob the country of its future potential." The minister called on the Taliban to lift the ban on women studying.

help the country rebuild

According to the ministry, the promotion of Afghan women is intended to help train qualified specialists who will be able to support their country in the reconstruction and advance education and development in the future – “as soon as the general conditions in Afghanistan allow it again”.

Around 5,000 female students should be supported by the end of 2027 as part of the program.

more on the subject

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• International criticism of further restrictions on women: work ban for women could "be devastating for the Afghan population"

The scholarships are to be awarded through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Since the expulsion from universities, Afghan women have been lacking "any academic training opportunity," explained DAAD President Joybrato Mukherjee.

The scholarship program is therefore an important building block "to enable young women to prepare for university studies together with our international partner organizations and to support refugee Afghan women with bachelor's and master's scholarships at universities in the region".

sun/AFP