KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan, report that Taliban authorities have closed educational classes supported by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for girls in the region.
According to the sources, the classes were funded by UNICEF and organized by local organizations for girls below grade six who had missed out on schooling in the province.
The sources added that the classes were closed by the Taliban Directorate of Education in Bamyan on Wednesday, November 27.
The reason for closing these classes remains unclear, and the local Taliban authorities have not yet commented on the matter.
In a similar move, the Taliban recently shut down UNICEF and Norwegian Refugee Council-supported educational classes for girls in central Uruzgan province.
In April of last year, the Taliban closed education centers and institutes supported by international NGOs in southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces, requesting that they transfer their educational activities to local NGOs.
Following the closure of educational centers in Kandahar, UNICEF expressed deep concern, saying that around 500,000 children, including 300,000 girls, would lose access to quality education.
Prior to the Taliban takeover, international organizations, particularly UN agencies, were heavily involved in education projects in Afghanistan, offering quality education primarily for women and children in rural areas.
Despite initial promises of a more moderate rule compared to their rule in the 1990s, the Taliban have imposed strict measures, particularly targeting women and girls, since taking control of Afghanistan in 2021.
Since then, the ruling regime in Afghanistan has issued over 100 directives and edicts targeting women’s rights, including bans on education, employment (including for UN agencies), access to parks and gyms, travel, and many other restrictions.
Rights groups, UN experts, activists, and Afghan women all assert that the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls amounts to gender apartheid, urging the international community and the UN to recognize it as such and pressure the Taliban to change their approach.
