Jafar Mahdavi, a former member of the Afghan parliament and a political figure seen as close to the Taliban, emphasized the necessity of girls' education and women's participation in national development during a ceremony in Kabul. He stated that Afghanistan will not achieve sustainable development without the presence of women.
Mr. Mahdavi's press office announced in a statement on Monday, October 26, that he had spoken at a graduation ceremony for an educational center in Kabul. During the event, Mahdavi described girls as half of the country's human capacity and said that true independence and development are only possible when both women and men play an active role in the nation's progress.
After the Taliban's return to power in August 2021, Jafar Mahdavi became a political figure who supports engagement with the group. He has repeatedly defended a dialogue-based approach with the Taliban and has opposed the imposition of sanctions and pressure on them.
Mahdavi believes that issues such as reopening schools and universities for girls should be resolved through dialogue with Taliban leaders, not through external pressure. In political meetings aoad, he has also stressed the need to create conditions for the return of political opponents to Afghanistan.
His remarks come as the Taliban government, since returning to power, has closed secondary schools and universities to millions of girls and women and has imposed extensive restrictions on their work and social activities.
The Taliban are the only ruling power in Afghanistan in the past century to have widely banned formal education for girls. This policy is unprecedented in any other Islamic country. Even conservative nations like Saudi Arabia have undertaken extensive reforms in recent years to increase women's participation in society. For example, female labor force participation in Saudi Arabia increased from about 18% in 2017 to nearly 36% in 2024.
Source: Jafar Mahdavi's Press Office
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