The Taliban deliberately deprived 1,4 million Afghan girls of education, the United Nations (UN) announced today.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world that prohibits secondary and higher education for women.
The Taliban, who took power in 2021, banned education for girls beyond the sixth grade because they said it was inconsistent with their interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law. The ban does not apply to boys, however, and the Taliban show no intention of reopening schools for girls and women.
UNESCO said at least 1,4 million girls have been deliberately denied secondary education since the takeover, an increase of 300.000 from the previous figure in April 2023.
"If we add to that the girls who were already going to school before the introduction of the ban, there are now almost 2,5 million girls deprived of the right to education in the country, which represents 80 percent of Afghan girls of school age," UNESCO said.
The Taliban did not respond to requests for comment.
Access to primary education has also declined since the Taliban took power in August 2021, with 1,1 million fewer girls and boys attending school, according to UNESCO.
UNESCO also warned that the authorities had almost erased two decades of steady progress in education in Afghanistan.
"The future of an entire generation is now at risk," the statement added.
Afghanistan had 5,7 million girls and boys in primary schools in 2022, compared to 6,8 million in 2019. The drop in enrollment is a result of the Taliban's decision to ban female teachers from teaching boys, but it can also be explained by a lack of incentive from parents to send their children to school in an increasingly difficult economic environment.
Yesterday, the Taliban celebrated three years of rule at the Bagram Air Base, but there was no mention of the country's difficulties, nor any promises to help the people who are living harder and harder.
Decades of conflict and instability have left millions of Afghans on the brink of starvation, and unemployment is high.
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