Afghanistan has become a “graveyard of girls' hopes” under Taliban: UN

Amid restrictions imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan under the Taliban, the United Nations has said the country has become a “cemetery of girls' hopes”, TOLOnews reports.

Emphasizing their support for Afghan girls in their struggle for the right to education despite restrictions, UN Women's Section highlighted the perseverance of Afghan girls in the face of educational prohibitions on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl in ICT on Thursday.

According to TOLOnews, the fourth Thursday of April every year is celebrated as the International Day of Girls in ICT (Information and Communications Technology) to honor the leadership, participation and empowerment of women in the field.

The Taliban, which took back control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, has closed universities to female students and banned them from attending schools beyond the sixth grade. Despite national and international criticism, the Taliban has continued to ban girls from going to school.

The Taliban have also banned women from working, which has worsened the country's human and women's rights.

More than two and a half years have passed and the Taliban has yet to make any new statement regarding the reopening of schools for girls above class six. As the Taliban has consolidated its control over Afghanistan, the humanitarian crisis in the country has worsened.

Millions of people are at risk of starvation and disease as infrastructure collapses and essential services are disrupted. Humanitarian organizations struggle to provide aid amid security concerns and logistical challenges.

A ban on girls' schools since the Taliban takeover has left a generation of girls deprived of education, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and inequality.