United Nations calls on Taliban to let all Afghan women and girls have access to education

The United Nations in Afghanistan on Wednesday urged the Taliban authorities to let all Afghan women and girls have access to school and university education.

In a message to mark the International Day of Education, Roza Otunbayeva, head of the UN diplomatic mission in the country, said that education is the foundation for Afghanistan's future.

Otunbayeva added that the ongoing denial of education for all women and girls will inflict further harm on all Afghans.

"To the women and girls of Afghanistan, please know that you are not alone. The United Nations stands with you in solidarity and will not cease to engage and advocate for your future," the UN official said.

Meanwhile, senior Taliban leaders who participated at a conference on education in Kabul and delivered speeches, including on the importance of modern education, did not touch on the issue of girls' education.

For more than two years now, the Taliban authorities have been saying that they are working on creating conditions to allow girls to return to school.

Since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021, girls are only allowed to go to school up to the 6th grade and are no longer allowed to attend universities. In some parts of the country, women and girls still attend madrassas, or religious schools, as well as midwifery schools.

The ban on education is seen as the biggest obstacle to the Taliban government being recognized internationally.