Afghanistan Unesco calls for access to education for Afghan women
On the occasion of International Women's Day, Unesco has denounced the exclusion of girls and women in Afghanistan from secondary education. It called for international action.
07.03.2025, 03:07
SDA
"We must continue international mobilization and advocacy to ensure that all women and girls in Afghanistan and everywhere else enjoy the fundamental right to quality education," said Unesco Director-General Audrey Azoulay in Paris.
More than three years after the Taliban took power, Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls and women are strictly forbidden from attending secondary schools and universities. "According to new data from Unesco, 1.5 million Afghan girls are denied access to secondary education due to regressive laws that ban girls from school." If this ban remains in place until 2030, more than four million girls will be affected.
Unesco supports alternative education options
"Although there is no substitute for school, Unesco has been working to provide alternative learning opportunities for Afghan women and girls," said the head of the UN cultural organization. "We have established community-based literacy classes in several provinces, partnered with foreign universities to offer online courses, and supported educational programs broadcast on radio and television."
To mark International Women's Day, Unesco is dedicating a conference to Afghan women this Friday in Paris, bringing together leading Afghan activists, women's rights defenders and international experts.
On August 15, 2021, the militant Islamist Taliban took power in Afghanistan after foreign troops, including the Bundeswehr, withdrew from the country. Since then, they have drastically restricted the rights of women and girls.
