Afghanistan Peace Campaign
UNICEF urged the Taliban to reopen girls’ schools, warning Afghanistan’s future depends on education to prevent child marriage, empower women, and address the worsening humanitarian crisis.
UNICEF has renewed its call on the Taliban to reopen secondary schools for girls, stressing that Afghanistan’s future depends on equal access to education.
Sen Gupta, UNICEF’s Director of Child Protection, said on October Tuesday, September 23 that schooling is not only about learning but also about protecting girls from child marriage and early pregnancies.
The agency has consistently urged the Taliban to reverse their education ban, which for four years has kept millions of girls above grade six out of classrooms and universities.
Since 2021, Afghanistan girls have been systematically denied secondary and higher education, with UNICEF and other rights groups describing the policy as one of the gravest injustices of the modern era.
UNICEF officials warned that the prolonged closure of schools has left young Afghan women without opportunities, threatening the country’s social and economic future.
Aid agencies and analysts caution that unless education and healthcare restrictions are lifted, Afghanistan risks creating a lost generation—deepening poverty, fueling humanitarian crises, and isolating the country even further from the global community.