UNICEF urges US to reconsider suspension of Fulbright programme for Afghan students

The United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Monday asked the US Department of State to reconsider the decision to suspend the Fulbright programme for Afghan students.

Sam Mort, Chief of Communication, Advocacy, and Civic Engagement for UNICEF Afghanistan, expressed concern in a Twitter post expressed concern over the decision and added that the Afghan people need every educational opportunity, reported The Khaama Press.

"Afghanistan's youth need every educational opportunity they can get. Education is the foundation of their future. Please consider. Please go the extra mile for them. Please put yourself in their shoes," tweeted Mort.

The United States State Department had announced to not continue its prestigious Fulbright Foreign Student Programme in Afghanistan for the 2022-23 academic year, an American broadcast network citing an official has reported.

According to ABC News, the news of the suspension of the program was delivered to applicants on Friday afternoon after months of delays to applicant interviews.

The decision has shocked 140 Afghan students who have won the scholarships and are still living in limbo in Afghanistan, reported The Khaama Press.

Around 960 Afghan students have been granted Fulbright scholarships over the past 18 years.

The Fulbright Program, administered by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, was established by Congress in 1946 with a goal of international relationship building by offering both grants to US citizens to study or teach abroad and to non-US citizens to study in the states, as per the television network.

( With inputs from ANI )