UN Calls Afghan Edu Crisis ‘Gender Apartheid,’ Urges Action

APP

New York: The Taliban’s return to power has undone nearly two decades of educational progress in Afghanistan, putting the future of a generation at risk, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported on Wednesday.

Afghanistan is currently the only nation in the world where girls and women over 12 are barred from secondary and higher education. Since the Taliban regained control on August 15, 2021, their regime has enforced severe restrictions on women’s rights, including access to education.

UNESCO estimates that 1.4 million girls have been denied secondary education, adding to the 2.5 million girls already out of school. This figure represents 80 percent of Afghan school-aged girls now excluded from education.

Additionally, university enrolment has plummeted by more than 50 percent since 2021, worsening Afghanistan’s development challenges as it faces a future without a sufficient number of trained professionals.

Primary education is still technically allowed for girls under 12, but enrolment has also dropped. UNESCO’s data reveals that Afghanistan had 5.7 million children in primary school in 2022, a decline from 6.8 million in 2019.

The Taliban’s prohibition on female teachers instructing boys, coupled with economic hardships, has further exacerbated the situation.

This educational collapse has wider societal implications, including fears of increasing child labour and early marriages as girls are kept out of schools.

In response, UNESCO has launched initiatives in 20 provinces, training over 1,000 facilitators, 780 of whom are women, to deliver literacy programmes. Additionally, distance learning is being supported through radio and television broadcasts.

Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s Director-General, reiterated the non-negotiable nature of the right to education, urging the international community to remain resolute in its efforts to reopen schools and universities for Afghan girls and women.

Simultaneously, 36 UN human rights experts have issued a call against normalising the Taliban’s regime, highlighting that its repression of women and girls constitutes crimes against humanity. They argue that Afghanistan’s situation is so extreme it amounts to “gender apartheid.”

The experts insist that robust international action is needed to restore dignity, equality, and justice for all Afghans.