AND so since September 2021, in the aftermath of the hasty flight of Westerners and the return to power of the Taliban. Even in that month of September, and also in Afghanistan, lessons have started again. But since then, and every year, not for girls, not for girls after the sixth and final year of primary school. Middle school banned, high school banned, university banned. In the only country in the world that theorizes and implements gender apartheid, and which already has one of the lowest female literacy rates in the world, the authorities have de facto denied the right to education to all girls for over five years. And the cost of this situation is dramatic. Due to a domino effect, discrimination has repercussions on the world of work, on the future of children and on women’s ability to be cared for and assisted.
Afghanistan without women teachers, nurses, midwives: the cost of bans on female education
This is what emerges from a new analysis by UNICEF. Due to persistent restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment, Afghanistan risks losing up to 20,000 female teachers and 5,400 health workers by 2030.
The report The cost of inaction on girls’ education and women’s workforce participation in Afghanistan ( The Cost of Inaction on Girls’ Education and Women’s Labor Force Participation in Afghanistan) found that female representation in public administration fell from 21% to 17.7% between 2023 and 2025.
In this photo Wahida (not her real name), 14 years old, who had to interrupt her studies a year ago, having reached the sixth grade. Photo © UNICEF/UNI955584/Khayyam
The report warns that the decline in the number of qualified female professionals in schools and hospitals will have devastating consequences on children’s learning, health outcomes and future opportunities. Restrictions on the education and employment of girls and women are already costing the country $84 million a year in lost economic output, with losses compounding over time as women remain barred from education and employment.
If women cannot be doctors but they cannot be treated by men
Teaching and health services are the only two sectors in which women are allowed to work and where they are indispensable. But while experienced workers retire or leave, girls are prevented from continuing their studies and replacing them.
The disappearance of female figures in these two areas damages the entire society. THEThe impact is particularly serious in the healthcare sector, considering that women cannot, according to traditional codes of conduct, receive medical assistance from men. The decline in the number of female health workers will directly limit maternal, newborn and child health services.
Hence the appeal of Catherine Russell, Director General of UNICEF: «We urge the de facto authorities to lift the ban on secondary education for girls and we ask the international community to maintain its commitment to supporting girls’ right to education.”
The social consequences of the lack of female teachers and doctors
The analysis indicates that if the ban persists until 2030, over two million girls will have been deprived of their right to education beyond primary school.
Schools are already suffering, with the number of female teachers in basic education falling by more than 9 percent – from almost 73,000 in 2022 to around 66,000 in 2024.
«Denying Afghan girls access to secondary education means depriving an entire nation of its potential: it will condemn girls, their families and their communities to poverty, it will compromise health conditions and it will shut down the economic engine that a generation of educated women could set in motion», concluded Russell.