The United Nations' cultural and education agency, UNESCO, called on the international community on Thursday to pressure the Taliban to restore women's education in Afghanistan, four years after the group seized power.
"At a time when some are seeking to normalize relations with the Taliban, I call on the international community to remain more mobilized than ever for the full and unconditional restoration of Afghan women's right to education," said Audrey Azoulay, director general of UNESCO.
Azoulay said that, since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban have issued over 70 decrees restricting girls' and women's rights, particularly in education.
"Today, Afghanistan sadly stands out as the only country in the world where secondary and higher education is strictly prohibited for girls and women," the UNESCO director general continued.
According to UNESCO, some 2.2 million young women have been deprived of the right to education in Afghanistan since the return of the Taliban.
Azoulay warned that an entire generation of Afghan women is at risk, despite significant gains in literacy and school attendance over the past 20 years with UNESCO's support.
"An entire generation of Afghan women is being sacrificed," she said.
The Taliban returned to power in August 2021 during the chaotic withdrawal of international forces.
Under the Taliban, women are prohibited from accessing education from the seventh grade onwards. In December, the Islamist regime also banned women from training in the medical field, although some schools still offer lessons for older girls contrary to the order.
