An estimated 2.4 million Afghan girls remain excluded from secondary education five years after the Taliban regained control of the country, a United Nations agency reported Tuesday. The continued exclusion of women and girls from education constitutes a grave violation of their fundamental rights, according to UNESCO.
"Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls and women are formally banned from secondary and higher education," said Hoda Jaberian, UNESCO’s program coordinator for education in emergencies, during a video news conference. "Five years is not a temporary interruption in a child’s education. It is clearly almost an entire secondary school cycle."
UNESCO continues to advocate for the immediate and unconditional restoration of girls' and women's right to secondary and higher education, stating it is a basic human right and non-negotiable.
The Taliban seized power on August 15, 2021, amid the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces. Shortly after, they barred girls from secondary schools and later extended these restrictions to higher education, employment, and other sectors, effectively removing women and girls from public life.
Despite appeals from the United Nations, humanitarian groups, human rights advocates, and several Islamic countries, the Taliban has maintained the ban, asserting it is a domestic matter. These restrictions are reversing two decades of educational progress in Afghanistan. While access to schooling for girls was limited in 2001, by 2021 nearly one million girls were enrolled in secondary education. "Much of that progress now has been completely reversed," Jaberian noted.
UNESCO is supporting education in Afghanistan through community-based programs focused on literacy and skills development. These classes are conducted in community spaces, often within the homes of literacy facilitators, with the knowledge of local authorities. The agency reported that more than 1,000 literacy facilitators, mostly trained by UNESCO and its partners, are involved. "While the restriction remains, we cannot abandon Afghan learners," Jaberian stated. "UNESCO works with communities and our partners from the communities to preserve every possible pathway to learning."