More than 2.4 million girls in Afghanistan have been denied secondary education since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, UNESCO said in a new report.
The United Nations agency warned the number could rise to nearly four million by 2030 after increasing by about 200,000 in the past year.
“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 programme coordinator for education in emergencies.
“Five years is not a temporary interruption in a child’s education. It is clearly almost an entire secondary school cycle.”
Women have also been barred from universities since late 2022 and face severe limits on employment and access to public spaces such as parks, gyms and salons.
After seizing power, the Taliban initially indicated girls would continue their studies. Secondary schools were closed to girls in 2022, followed by the university ban. Female teachers were dismissed and often replaced by unqualified staff or left unfilled.
Afghanistan had made significant gains in girls’ education, with nearly one million enrolled in secondary school by 2021, up from very low numbers in 2001. Much of that progress has been reversed, Jaberian said.
UNESCO estimated the restrictions could leave at least 600,000 women unemployed and cause $9.6 billion in cumulative income losses, while also increasing risks of early marriage and creating a shortage of more than 11,000 female teachers by 2030.
The agency called for the immediate restoration of girls’ and women’s right to secondary and higher education, while continuing to offer alternative community-based learning programmes.
