UN deputy chief call for immediate end to Taliban bans on women education
Photo: ECW

UN deputy chief: Taliban’s ban on girls’ education must end immediately

“For more than 500 days, the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have denied secondary school girls that basic right to an education. This must end immediately,” the UN deputy chief, Amina Mohammed, said in a video message released by the Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, on Saturday.

The UN Deputy-Secretary General reiterates on this call as many other global calls have so far been turned down by the Taliban and particularly after she and the UN Women chief, Sima Bahous, ended a four-day visit to Afghanistan empty handed in January.

In her new message, the UN deputy chief called for unity among the international community to address educational needs of Afghan girls and amplify their voices. “We must grow the movement for change in Afghanistan. A society based on exclusion and repression cannot flourish; a bird cannot fly on one wing. Education is the uniting force to help us deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.  I urge donors to continue to step up funding for Education Cannot Wait.”

She added that the UN community must also continue to provide life-saving initiatives, including food and health services, in Afghanistan.

In March 2022, the Taliban banned girls from secondary education and in December of the same year the group imposed another ban prohibiting women from university education indefinitely.

Despite repeated calls from across the world, including Islamic countries, for the bans’ reversal, the Taliban has so far denied to accept these calls and has only continued to impose more restriction on women