NEW YORK — The head of UN Women, Sima Bahous, has warned that the continued denial of education to girls in Afghanistan will have consequences that extend across generations.
In a post on X, Bahous called for the immediate restoration of Afghan girls’ basic rights. “Girls in Afghanistan must be allowed back in school. Their fundamental rights must be restored — now,” she wrote.
Her remarks come as the new academic year begins in Afghanistan, with secondary and higher education institutions still closed to girls for a third consecutive year under Taliban rule.
Bahous described the ban as a violation of a fundamental human right and said its long-term impact would be deeply damaging to the country’s future.
The warning was echoed by UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, who, citing UNICEF, said that if the current restrictions remain in place, more than 4 million Afghan girls could be out of school by 2030.
According to UNICEF, with the start of the new school year, an additional 400,000 girls have now been denied education, bringing the total number of out-of-school girls in Afghanistan to 2.2 million.
