Almost 3.8 million Afghan girls are out of school as Taliban restrictions continue to deny them access to education, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Monday.
Georgette Gagnon, the UN's deputy special representative for Afghanistan, said the number of girls excluded from classrooms has continued to rise under Taliban policies that bar secondary and higher education for them, leaving them without opportunities for learning, employment and economic participation.
“An estimated 3.8 million girls between seven and 18 years of age are not in school, including more than 2.6 million adolescent girls,” Ms Gagnon said. “Each year, approximately 250,000 more girls are permanently excluded from secondary education pathways, creating a lost generation of talent and potential.”
She said the restrictions were having repercussions far beyond education. “What we are witnessing are severe and growing restrictions – the imposition of systemic and institutionalised harm with long-term generational consequences for Afghan society as a whole,” Ms Gagnon said.
She said recent Unicef analysis showed that restrictions on women's education and employment are already damaging Afghanistan's economy.
“Sectors such as health and education are experiencing a decline in qualified female professionals, with projections indicating the loss of more than 25,000 skilled workers by 2030,” Ms Gagnon said. “The solution requires the de facto authorities to end restrictions on education and employment for women and girls, to the benefit of all Afghans.”
Last week, the Taliban issued a directive prohibiting women from appearing in public without what authorities described as a “proper hijab”, according to local media. The directive warned that women who failed to comply with the dress code, including those showing their faces or wearing make-up, would be punished, the reports said.
Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban have issued more than 230 decrees, including the 2024 Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (PVPV), many of which are directly aimed at women and girls.
“The Taliban’s oppression of women is not incidental but central to their model of governance They have created a system of total control,” Metra Mehran, founder of the Afghanistan Justice Archives, told the council.
Ms Mehran urged the international community to avoid political or diplomatic engagement that could legitimise the Taliban's rule, warning against “hosting, accrediting or entering into any agreements with the Taliban”.
“There has been a lack of clarity from the international community about how it envisions continuing political processes. This has created profound fear and distrust among people in Afghanistan,” she added.
But Iran's UN ambassador, Amir-Saeid Iravani, said continued engagement with the Taliban is “indispensable for advancing stability and addressing Afghanistan’s challenges”.
At the same time, he criticised restrictions on Afghan women and girls, saying such measures are “incompatible with the true teachings of Islam”.
“We call on the de facto authorities to remove these restrictions and to ensure that women and girls can enjoy their rights, including access to education and employment,” Mr Iravani said.
He said Afghanistan was an integral part of the region's “rich and ancient civilisation” and that the rights, identity and cultural heritage of all ethnic and national communities must be respected and protected.
