UN: 2. 4 Million Girls Barred from School in Afghanistan According to UNESCO, nearly 2. 4 million girls in Afghanistan have been denied access to secondary education since the Taliban's return to power in 2021.
This figure has increased by about 200,000 since last year and is projected to reach nearly four million by 2030 if the ban remains in place. The exclusion of these girls from education has far reaching implications.
As Hoda Jaberian, UNESCO's program coordinator for education in emergencies, notes, five years without secondary schooling can have devastating long term consequences for individuals, families, and communities.