Stephan Dujarric, spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said at a press briefing that nearly 600,000 of the approximately 900,000 children who have returned to Afghanistan still lack access to education and schools.
Citing a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Dujarric said Afghanistan’s education system is facing significant challenges, making it increasingly difficult for children to access education.
He also noted that girls above the sixth grade continue to be denied their right to education, with existing restrictions posing serious barriers to their continued schooling.
Regarding restrictions on humanitarian assistance, the UN spokesperson said that the organization and its humanitarian partners support children’s education wherever possible. However, persistent funding shortages have reduced their capacity to support the education sector.
UNESCO has previously stated that, since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, approximately 2.4 million girls in Afghanistan have been deprived of secondary education. The organization has warned that the continued ban on girls’ education could have far-reaching consequences for Afghanistan’s economy and society in the long term.
On Tuesday, August 11, UNESCO said in a statement marking five years since Afghan girls were deprived of their right to education that Afghanistan is the only country in the world where secondary education for girls and women is officially prohibited.
Following their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban repeatedly said that arrangements would be made to allow girls to continue their education. However, girls’ middle and high schools remained closed in March of that year, and in December 2022, women were also banned from attending universities.
writer:Salima Aryaei
