Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Pakistani Taliban, is demanding that Afghanistan's new leaders allow girls to attend school.
After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, it prevented girls 12 and older from attending school.
"To the Taliban authorities, you assured the world that you would respect the rights of girls and women — but you are denying millions their right to learn. Reverse the de facto ban on girls’ education and re-open girls’ secondary schools immediately," says a letter from Yousafzai, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and several other female Afghan activists.
The women also ask other Arab nations to stand with girls in Afghanistan.
"To the leaders of Muslim countries, religion does not justify preventing girls from going to school," the letter states. Make this clear to Taliban leaders by issuing public statements on the Islamic imperative for girls’ complete education."
According to Al Jazeera, girls will be allowed to return to school soon.
“From my understanding and information, in a very short time all the universities and schools will be reopened and all the girls and women will return to school and their teaching jobs,” a spokesperson for Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior Affairs told the news outlet.
The Taliban had told the international community that it was preventing older girls from going to school until a "safe learning environment" could be established.
