Taliban ‘deliberately deprived’ 1.4 million girls of schooling: UN
Al Jazeera
As Afghanistan’s rulers mark three years in power, the future of an entire generation of girls is ‘in jeopardy’.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government has “deliberately deprived” at least 1.4 million girls of their right to an education during its three years in power, according to the United Nations.
About 300,000 more girls are missing out on school since UNESCO last carried out a count in April 2023, it said on Thursday and warned that “the future of an entire generation is now in jeopardy”.
Taking into account the number of girls not going to school before the Taliban came to power in August 2021, the UN’s educational and cultural agency said 80 percent of Afghan school-age girls – a total of 2.5 million – are now being denied their right to an education.
“UNESCO is alarmed by the harmful consequences of this increasingly massive drop-out rate, which could lead to a rise in child labour and early marriage,” it said in a statement.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world to stop girls and women attending secondary schools and universities.
