Drama in Afghanistan: the Taliban leave 2.4 million girls without secondary education

In 2026, the number of girls affected increased by 200,000 compared to 2025. And “if the ban persists, Nearly four million girls could be deprived of it between now and 2030“says the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in a new report.

“These restrictions wipe out two decades of progress in terms of access to education,” he says.

When the first Taliban regime fell in 2001, following the US occupation, the number of girls enrolled in secondary school was very limited, but it reached a million two decades later, says UNESCO.

“Afghan women and girls They have the right to learn; It is a fundamental human right. They have the right to work. They must enjoy freedom of movement (…) without being forced to be accompanied or monitored, or suffer prohibitions within their communities,” said Hoda Jaberian, coordinator of education programs in emergency situations, in a press conference.

“Unesco once again condemns discrimination against women and girls and calls for the immediate and unconditional restoration of their right to education,” added Jaberian, who urged “the world not to look the other way.”

These discriminations are framed in a broader crisiswhich affects both genders.

According to UNESCO, more than half of boys and girls of primary school age are completely outside the educational system and More than 90% of ten-year-old children cannot read a simple text.

Afghanistan is the only country in the world where secondary and higher education is strictly prohibited for girls and women, remember the organization.

UNESCO points out that the persistence of these bans could represent an estimated cumulative loss of income of $9.6 billion between now and 2066 for a country already going through a serious economic crisis.

UNESCO has been supporting education in Afghanistan by implementing community education, literacy and skills development programs.

The agency explained that skills development and literacy classes are held in community spaces, often inside the homes of literacy facilitators with knowledge of authorities. He added that there were more than 1,000 literacy facilitatorsmost of them trained by UNESCO and its partners.

“As long as the restriction remains in place, we cannot abandon Afghan students,” he said. “UNESCO works with communities and our partners to preserve all possible avenues of learning.”