1,000 Days Since Afghan Girls Were Banned from Secondary Schools

“1,000 days out-of-school amounts to 3 billion learning hours lost,” a UNICEF spokesperson highlighted.

Today marks a sad and sobering milestone: 1,000 days since the announcement banning girls in Afghanistan from attending secondary schools.

"1,000 days out-of-school amounts to 3 billion learning hours lost," a UNICEF spokesperson highlighted.

For 1.5 million girls, this systematic exclusion is not only a blatant violation of their right to education but also results in dwindling opportunities and deteriorating mental health. "The rights of children, especially girls, cannot be held hostage to politics. Their lives, futures, hopes, and dreams are hanging in the balance."

The impact of the ban extends beyond the girls themselves. It exacerbates the ongoing humanitarian crisis and has serious ramifications for Afghanistan's economy and development trajectory. "Education doesn't just provide opportunities. It protects girls from early marriage, malnutrition, and other health problems, and bolsters their resilience to disasters like the floods, drought, and earthquakes that frequently plague Afghanistan," the spokesperson noted.

UNICEF colleagues are working hard to support all children in Afghanistan. Together with partners, they are keeping 2.7 million children in primary education, running community-based education classes for 600,000 children—two-thirds of them girls—training teachers, and doing everything possible to maintain the educational infrastructure.

"As we mark this grim milestone, I urge the de facto authorities to allow all children to resume learning immediately. And I urge the international community to remain engaged and support these girls who need us more than ever. No country can move forward when half its population is left behind."