UNICEF urges Taliban to allow girls to study, calls restrictions a “defining injustice of our time”

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) yesterday, Wednesday, September 17, urged the Taliban government in Afghanistan to allow girls to pursue education at all levels, warning that restrictions on girls' education have confined them to their homes. 

UNICEF stated that without access to school, the country's girls are increasingly facing mental health issues, child marriages, and early pregnancies, Mathrubhumi reported.

The agency encouraged the Taliban to abolish the limitations immediately and ensure that every girl has access to education at all levels, from primary school to higher education, according to Afghanistan's top news agency, Khaama Press. Notably, the Taliban outlawed secondary education for girls in Afghanistan shortly after seizing power in August 2021.

Girls’ development at risk, UNICEF Director says

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell expressed worry about the mounting mental health difficulties and rising rates of early marriage among Afghan girls who have been barred from pursuing an education for over four years.

According to a statement issued by UNICEF yesterday, Wednesday, September 17, Taliban restrictions have impacted millions of young females. It claimed that more than 2.2 million adolescent females would be excluded from school by the end of 2025.

Russell added that the repatriation of two million Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran in 2025, has increased the number of girls who do not attend school. She emphasised that restrictions not only cause girls to miss academic lessons but also deprive them of social connections, personal growth, and the opportunity to define their future.

She said that Afghan girls were being deprived of their basic right to education. She stated, "While millions of children worldwide return to classrooms for the new academic year, Afghan girls are denied this basic right," terming it a defining injustice of our time.

Afghanistan’s shrinking working women

UNICEF also expressed concern about the Taliban's exclusion of women from the workforce, stating that the restrictions endanger Afghanistan's long-term stability and progress, as no nation can prosper if half of its population is denied the opportunity to contribute to national development and the labour force. 

The agency stressed that the recent earthquake in Afghanistan highlights the crucial need for skilled female health and social workers in a divided society.