In Brief with Mohammad Mirwais Balkhi, former Afghanistan Minister for Education
In Brief: Mohammad Mirwais Balkhi, former Afghanistan Minister for Education
IN BRIEF WITH MOHAMMAD MIRWAIS BALKHI
28 June 2021
We recently caught up with Afghanistan’s former Minister for Education, Mohammad Mirwais Balkhi and discussed recent developments there including the security situation, the withdrawal of US troops, the effects of Covid-19 and of course education. We started by reflecting on the issue of US involvement in his country over the last two decades.
9DL: How do you assess the United States’ nation-building efforts in Afghanistan over the last two decades and what do you see as the main successes and failures?
MMB: This is an enormous question with many angles, which I explore in my book, American Nation Building: A Comparative Study of Iraq and Afghanistan. Briefly, I think the US treated nation-building as a “top-down military-oriented project from outside”. All the terms I use here are the main reasons behind the failure of the process. In order to be successful, it must be a “bottom-up social-justice-oriented process from inside”. The US’ efforts temporarily transformed the lives of ordinary Afghans by creating a sense of hopefulness at least in major cities for middle-class families. But this didn’t work in promoting rural development and village life has now become worse than it was pre-2001.
9DL: As Afghanistan experiences a third wave of Covid-19, what's the current situation on the ground?
MMB: Well, currently we are surrounded by all sorts of dangers; malnutrition is killing our children, war is killing our young generation and Covid-19 is killing our older citizens. The third wave of the pandemic is terrifying for people because it feels like death is now all around. This is the only news we get on social media these days. Unfortunately, there is a lack of a strong mechanism between international donors and the Afghan government to take advantage of any kind of help. The management of the health sector in Afghanistan is also very poor — we are even facing oxygen shortages in hospitals — I have lost some of my closest friends due to a lack of oxygen.
The main success is a rather ‘transitional progress’ for a ‘transitional generation’ that grew up during the 2000s. However, those who are educated and skilled have been trying to leave Afghanistan since the re-emergence of the Taliban. The biggest failure is that even after 20 years since it was attacked on 9/11, the US remains in a position of defeat.
9DL: By many measures, the Taliban are now believed to be in a stronger position militarily than at any point since 2001. What do you think the future holds for the Taliban’s control over territory?
MMB: I don’t see the Taliban ruling the geography of Afghanistan. I don’t say this politically to play with words – I say this as an eyewitness. Much of Afghan territory is controlled by paramilitary forces in support of Afghan National Defence Forces. But life in the villages is very difficult — people are caught between a critical lack of even the most basic infrastructure on one hand and fighting between the Taliban and ANDS/paramilitary forces on the other.
9DL: How do you expect the Taliban’s position to change in light of the upcoming US withdrawal?
MMB: Well, the Taliban are certainly waiting for an opportunity to make their move. Nevertheless, I don’t see the Taliban being able to take over and rule Afghanistan regardless of whether the US withdraws. So far, the Afghan government in Kabul has underestimated the ethnic nature of the war. If the Taliban try to gain control of Kabul after launching an attempt, there could be a revival of the second wave of resistance against them by ex-leaders and areas of the National Unity Front (Northern Alliance). There is also the possibility of groups in different parts of the country being activated — people stand armed and ready to fight the Taliban.
9DL: UNICEF estimates that as many as 3.7 million Afghan children are out of school — 60 per cent are girls. What progress has Afghanistan made in recent years to provide education to girls, especially in distant rural areas and how can things continue to improve?
MMB: This number, which is an estimate from 2017, has since grown because education services have become more vulnerable due to war resulting in more students being out of school. During my tenure as education minister, we implemented the ‘Decade of Education’ strategy to address the various challenges and develop a quality education system in the country. One major issue has been ensuring access to education for girls and boys in all cities and villages. Our research found the main barriers in accessing education — especially for girls — were cultural, economic, and security-related.
To address cultural constraints, we recruited women teachers and started building girls-only schools in the villages (among other measures). To help address economic issues, I implemented a campaign among overseas Afghans to support poor families so they could send their daughters to school. Security issues are harder to address, however, depoliticising education was the best way to convince the Taliban not to stop education in the areas they controlled.
9DL: Given the United States is shortly due to withdraw from Afghanistan, what sort of support might be hoped for from your neighbours?
MMB: The US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan raises deep concerns for all neighbouring countries. I believe two groups of countries are most affected: one group consists of countries that are in an offensive or ambitious state to expand their sphere of influence inside Afghanistan. The other group comprises those who adopt a defensive position believing that Afghanistan’s insecurities are the main factor behind regional insecurity, which prevents them from investing more in development as they must devote a growing budget to developing their security capabilities.
Pakistan and India are two important representatives of the first and second groups respectively. The government of Afghanistan has presented India with many ‘wish-lists’ and hoped for more pragmatic and practical engagement. However, India has tended to focus more on ‘soft measures’ such as helping civil sector organisations.
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.
Biography
Mohammad Mirwais Balkhi is a former Minister for Education and Deputy Ambassador to New Delhi with the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. He is the author of American Nation Building: a Comparative Study of Iraq & Afghanistan, and two books in Persian: Saudi Arab’s Foreign Policy towards Afghanistan 1991-2014, and A Critique of Afghanistan’s Regional Integration. He holds a PhD in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. Image credit: Wikimedia.