UNICEF 'optimistic' about working with Taliban on girls education

UNICEF is taking the Taliban’s reassurances about women’s rights at face value.

According to Reuters, UNICEF is getting along with the Taliban leadership in Kandahar, Herat and Jalalabad.

At the first Taliban press conference earlier today, a spokesperson said the terrorist group is "committed to the rights of women within the framework of Sharia." The Taliban said they supported a girls’ right to education.

The chief of field operations for Afghanistan is Mustapha Ben Messaoud. He told a UN briefing that 11 out of the 13 field offices in the country were up and running.

"We have ongoing discussions, and we are quite optimistic based on those discussions," he said. "We have not a single issue with the Taliban in those field offices."

UNICEF has not yet made contact with the Taliban in Kabul.

A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said people have "thoroughly understandable" reasons to be concerned about the Taliban.

"We call on the Taliban to demonstrate through their actions, not just their words, that the fears for the safety of so many people from so many different walks of life are addressed."

When the Taliban had control of Afghanistan back in 2000, women were considered lawbreakers for opening schools for girls. They had to cover their faces from head to toe.

This history led to a group of women taking to the streets in Kabul earlier on Tuesday.

It was nearly a decade ago that Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban forces in Pakistan for demanding girls be allowed to go to school. She's not as optimistic as UNICEF when it comes to the future of girls in Afghanistan.