As the Taliban marked the fourth year of Afghanistan’s new academic year, Sima Bahous, head of UN Women, has called for the reopening of schools for girls above sixth grade.
On Tuesday, March 25, Bahous expressed deep concern on X (formerly Twitter) over the continued ban on girls’ education in Afghanistan.
In her statement, she emphasized the need to lift the Taliban’s restrictions on women and girls, warning that violating their rights will have long-term negative consequences for future generations.
She further stressed: “Girls must return to school. Their fundamental rights must be restored immediately and without delay.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported that with the start of the new academic year, at least 400,000 more girls have been deprived of education. The organization warned that if the ban persists until 2030, over four million girls will be denied their right to education.
Concerns over the continuation of the ban on girls’ education come as the Taliban’s Ministry of Education celebrated the start of the academic year in Kabul without addressing the reopening of girls’ schools.
This marks the fourth consecutive year that the Taliban has rung in the new school year without girls in attendance, extending their exclusion from education to 1,280 days.
