UNESCO: Taliban Have Banned 1.4M Girls From Schools

Improve the News Foundation -
0:00
/1861

Facts

  • The Taliban government, which took power in Afghanistan in 2021, has since “deliberately deprived” education to at least 1.4M girls, a UN agency has reported.[1]
  • UNESCO data shows that if those excluded from schools since before the ban are added, the figure swells up to 2.5M — representing 80% of school-age girls.[2]
  • A UNESCO statement said Thursday that the Taliban have, in only three years in power, decimated almost two decades of steady progress made in Afghan education.[2]
  • Women have also reportedly been pushed out of public life, including from jobs and community spaces like parks and gyms. The UN has labeled the situation 'gender apartheid.'[3]
  • Expressing alarm, the UN's cultural agency said such a massive dropout rate in school education among women could fuel child labor and early marriages.[4]
  • The Taliban, which came to power after decades of conflict and instability, believes educating girls above sixth grade isn't compliant with Islamic law.[5]

Sources: [1]Al Jazeera, [2]UNESCO, [3]RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, [4]France 24 and [5]Associated Press.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Washington Post. The Taliban are silencing women and girls, confining them to homes, and robbing them of their futures. They have effectively turned women into ghosts within their own country. This systematic erasure threatens to leave a generation of women in darkness.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by New York Times. The UN and other global actors have been complicit in erasing Afghan women from crucial discussions about their country's future. They are repeating past mistakes to appease the Taliban and legitimize policies that have virtually erased women from public life.

Predictions