Protecting the right to education for all Afghans
In Afghanistan, decades of progress in development have been rolled back since 2021. Denied the fundamental right to education, millions of Afghan girls and women face an uncertain future. In the face of major challenges, UNESCO is striving to ensure the continuity of education for citizens of Afghanistan.
Education in Afghanistan
Millions of children and young people in Afghanistan, particularly girls and young women, are currently denied access to education. indicates that at least 1.4 million girls have been prohibited from accessing secondary education since the Taliban takeover in August 2021. While education is still permitted for girls under the age of 12, primary school enrolment also dropped sharply from 6.8 million in 2019 to 5.7 million in 2022. Since 20 December 2022, women have been banned from universities, denying access to higher education to more than 100,000 young women.
As previously evidenced in the 2021 UNESCO Report “” significant gains had been made in terms of access to education in the decades leading up to August 2021. Forty years of war, recurrent natural disasters, chronic poverty, drought and the COVID-19 pandemic, had already taken a huge toll on the Afghan people. Nonetheless, progress had still been made in education at all levels.
Since the de facto authorities took over in August 2021, however, those gains have been affected, leaving a generation grappling with uncertainty about the future. Alongside other public services, the education system has been hit hard, and the right to education for Afghan children and youth, especially girls and women, remains in major jeopardy.
UNESCO’s work to protect access to education in Afghanistan
91鶹Ʒ been continuously supporting education in Afghanistan since the country first joined UNESCO in 1948, particularly through direct engagement with communities to secure continuity of learning and skills development for all. The women and girls of Afghanistan remain at the core of UNESCO’s advocacy and support in education.
In close coordination with other education partners, 91鶹Ʒ developed the Afghanistan Education Sector Support Plan (AESSP) 2024-25 to respond to both immediate and medium-term education needs in Afghanistan. As part of the UN Country Team, in line with the UN Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (2023-2025) and the Afghanistan Education Sector Transitional Framework, UNESCO is focusing on concrete activities to ensure, protect and prioritize the right to education for all Afghan people, especially girls and women, including through:
- Providing community-based livelihood and vocational skills training opportunities for economic empowerment and community resilience
- Improving education quality by strengthening teacher professional development and enhancing student learning outcomes
- Leading evidence-based education financing and programming through robust education data and effective local/global coordination mechanisms.
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Enhancing access to education for Afghan refugees
There are an estimated registered in neighboring countries, the vast majority of whom are in Iran and Pakistan. Many Afghan refugees face huge challenges in accessing safe, quality and inclusive education due to factors including socioeconomic exclusion and language and cultural barriers.
UNESCO is working in neighboring countries in the region to enhance access to education for displaced Afghans. In Iran, for instance, a female teacher training hub was established to support female Afghan refugees, while Afghan children have participated in UNESCO’s non-formal education initiatives. The Green TVET project, which aims to modernize TVET systems to meet labor market needs and promote peaceful coexistence, also engages Afghan refugees and host communities in Iran.
In Pakistan, UNESCO supports Afghan refugees' access to education through its initiatives. These include enhancing professional development opportunities for educators, particularly in the non-formal education sector, and providing distance learning through the Radio Education Programme.
