2.6 Million Afghan Girls Shut Out of Secondary School, UNICEF Says

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said five years represents a defining period in a girl's development because schools provide far more than academic lessons.

More than 2.6 million girls in Afghanistan have been denied secondary education during the five years since the de facto authorities took power, leaving an entire generation facing growing risks to their safety, health and future employment, according to UNICEF.

Afghanistan remains the only country where secondary and higher education is effectively closed to girls and women. Girls have been unable to attend formal education beyond grade six since September 2021, while women have been excluded from universities since December 2022, restrictions that have turned years of missed schooling into a much broader social and economic crisis.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said five years represents a defining period in a girl's development because schools provide far more than academic lessons. Classrooms can give young people greater independence and confidence while protecting them from child labour, early marriage, violence and abuse, protections that become even more important when families are facing poverty or displacement.

Five Years Outside School Changes a Girl's Future

Girls excluded from education face increased risks of child labour, abuse, early marriage and gender-based violence. Those dangers become greater in households dealing with financial hardship or displacement, both of which remain widespread across Afghanistan.

Large-scale returns from neighbouring countries are adding pressure. More than 2.7 million people have returned from Iran and Pakistan since 2023, with children and young people making up 60 per cent of those returning. Families arriving after years abroad may need housing, income, healthcare and education at the same time, making the continued exclusion of older girls from formal schooling particularly damaging.

The impact grows with every academic year that passes because girls who were children when the restrictions began are now reaching late adolescence without being able to continue their formal education.

Afghanistan Could Lose Thousands of Women Teachers and Health Workers

The education restrictions could reshape Afghanistan's workforce for years. UNICEF analysis published in April 2026 estimates that the country risks losing as many as 20,000 women teachers and 5,400 female health workers by 2030 if current conditions continue.

Signs of that decline are already visible. The number of female teachers in basic education dropped by more than 9 per cent, falling from nearly 73,000 in 2022 to around 66,000 in 2024. Women's representation in the civil service also declined from 21 per cent in 2023 to 17.7 per cent in 2025.

Fewer educated women entering teaching and healthcare could create further difficulties for girls and women who depend on female professionals, meaning today's education restrictions could eventually reduce access to essential services across entire communities.

Education Restrictions Carry a Growing Economic and Health Cost

UNICEF estimates that restrictions on girls' education and women's employment are already costing Afghanistan about US$84 million every year in lost economic output, with the financial damage accumulating for as long as the restrictions remain.

The consequences can also pass from one generation to another. UNICEF's analysis found that as the proportion of mothers without education increases, their children face greater risks of low birthweight, insufficient vaccination and stunting. Those outcomes could place additional pressure on an Afghan health system already struggling with substantial needs.

Education therefore affects much more than individual employment prospects. Keeping girls in school can influence household income, children's health, the availability of skilled workers and the country's ability to build a stronger economy.

UNICEF Keeps Learning Opportunities Open Where Possible

Despite the restrictions, UNICEF continues to support education programmes across Afghanistan. More than 3.7 million children in public schools received emergency education assistance during 2025, while 442,000 children participated in community-based learning programmes, with girls accounting for 66 per cent of those learners. Another 232 schools were constructed or rehabilitated. These programmes provide important opportunities, but they cannot replace unrestricted access to formal secondary schools and universities for girls and women.

Russell called on the de facto authorities to remove the restrictions immediately and allow girls and women to return to classrooms and university campuses, echoing a similar appeal from the UN Secretary-General.

UNICEF says it and its partners are prepared to support the safe reopening of schools. After five years of lost education, the agency's warning is increasingly about Afghanistan's wider future: excluding millions of girls from classrooms also means limiting the teachers, healthcare professionals, public servants and skilled workers the country will depend on in the years ahead.