New York

The United Nations Women on Tuesday warned that it will have generational consequences in Afghanistan as girls are denied education for the third year in a row. 

The reaction comes as the new academic year begins in Afghanistan, with secondary and higher education institutions still closed to women for yet another year under the Taliban.

Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, stated that Afghan girls must return to school with the start of the new school year, and depriving them of access to education is a clear violation of their rights.

"As a new school year begins in Afghanistan, the doors remain shut to thousands of girls -- for the third year in a row. This violation of their right to education will haunt generations. Girls must return to school. Their fundamental rights must be restored -- without delay," Bahous posted on X.

According to a UN Women report, since August 2021, the Taliban have systematically dismantled women and girls' access to education in Afghanistan, enforcing increasingly dire restrictions. Girls were first banned from secondary schools in March 2022, followed by a suspension from universities in December of the same year.

By January 2023, the Taliban further deepened its oppressive grip by prohibiting girls from taking university entrance exams, effectively erasing the progress that had, in some provinces, seen higher examination participation rates for girls than boys.

In 2024, a UN Women's report on Afghanistan shows that 1.1. million secondary school-aged girls are out of school. While primary schools remain open for girls, enrolment has dropped because of social norms, access issues, and safety concerns.

The status of women's rights in Afghanistan has deteriorated drastically under Taliban rule. Decades of hard-fought progress toward gender equality have been obliterated by a web of oppressive directives. It has been projected that the Afghan economy will lose US$ 9.6 billion by 2066 if the suspension of women's access to higher education remains in place.

Recently, several women activists have launched a campaign titled 'Let's Study' to mark the start of the new academic year, condemning the Taliban ban on education.

In an online statement, the activists stated that with the start of the new school year, another 400,000 girls have been deprived of education as the Taliban prohibits Afghan girls from accessing secondary and higher education.

The campaign, organised by women's rights protesters in the South Asian nation, also urged the international community to support Afghan women in their struggle for access to education against the "ignorant terrorist group" Taliban's ban.

ALSO READ: BJP to distribute 'Eid kits from PM Modi' among 32 lakh Muslims

Last week, the Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) urged that all girls in the Islamic country must be allowed to return to school as the new school year begins. The agency stated that if this ban persists until 2030, over four million girls will have been deprived of their right to education beyond primary school.

"The consequences for these girls -- and for Afghanistan -- are catastrophic. The ban negatively impacts the health system, the economy, and the future of the nation. With fewer girls receiving education, girls face a higher risk of child marriage with negative repercussions on their well-being and health," UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said.