Taliban barred 2.4 million Afghan girls from secondary education since 2021. Afghanistan is the only country with such formal bans on education. This risks condemning the nation to decades of lost potential and poverty. UNESCO estimates significant income losses and increased early marriage risks. The ban also exacerbates a shortage of qualified female teachers in schools.

It is shameful that half the country’s population continues to be overlooked by the international community.

Father after father AFP spoke to in Afghanistan about the education ban that stops their daughters going beyond primary school choked up in despair.