Gordon Brown urges pressure on Taliban and Muslim-majority governments to restore girls' education

When asked about Afghanistan, John Metsler of WorldTribune.com asked what could be done about the Taliban's restrictions on girls' education. Gordon Brown said international pressure is needed and that Muslim-majority countries are especially well-placed to influence the regime. "We have made many protests to the Taliban regime…we're hoping that because this is an edict from one of the Kandahar clerics that some of the Muslim majority countries will put additional pressure onto the regime," he said.

Brown described underground and internet schooling initiatives inside Afghanistan and said the situation is worsening for girls, calling the denial of education "the most egregious abuse of girls' rights in any part of the world" (as spoken). He urged governments engaged with the Taliban not to allow the issue to be sidelined and to press for the restoration of girls' secondary education.