UNESCO warns Afghanistan could lose a generation of professionals if ban on girls’ education continues

Washington — Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Dari article.

Afghanistan risks losing a generation of future teachers, healthcare professionals and other skilled workers if girls and women remain barred from secondary and higher education, a U.N. official told VOA.

“Our message is very clear: Afghanistan cannot afford to lose another generation of learners,” Hoda Jaberian, UNESCO Program Coordinator for Education in Emergencies, said in an interview.

Jaberian called for efforts to bring girls and women back to school, strengthen Afghanistan’s education system and ensure all children “can fully exercise their basic human right to quality education.”

A U.N. report, released in November, stated that the Taliban ban had excluded an estimated 2.4 million girls from secondary education, while no girls have enrolled in universities in 2026.

After seizing power in 2021, the Taliban banned girls from secondary education, barred women from attending universities in December 2022 and from studying at medical institutions in December 2024.

In addition to banning girls from secondary and university education, the Taliban also imposed repressive restrictions on women, barring them from working in government agencies and non-government organizations, going to public parks, beauty salons and gyms, and traveling long distances without a close male relative.

The group has issued more than 100 decrees that curb women’s and girls’ rights and freedoms, including their right to get an education.

Jaberian said the first priority is to immediately reopen schools for girls.

“The return of all girls and women to the education system is fundamental for us, and no alternative learning opportunity can replace their formal schooling,” she added.

Jaberian, however, said efforts should also prioritize learning opportunities for children and young people currently excluded from education, particularly girls and women.

She also said that it is important to improve the quality of education in Afghanistan.

“Strengthening the quality of education through supporting teachers and teaching and learning materials, and of course, ensuring better education data and planning, as you can see within the recently published report.”