The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that Afghanistan’s education system faces immense challenges but said there are still opportunities for rebuilding. The agency described education for every girl and boy as “vital” to the country’s future.

In a post on X on Saturday, 11 October, UNICEF reiterated its call for the Taliban to lift the ban on girls’ education and urged greater investment in Afghanistan’s struggling education sector.

The continued denial of schooling for girls has drawn widespread international condemnation. Global leaders, rights activists and organisations, including Amnesty International and UNICEF, have repeatedly called on the Taliban to reopen girls’ schools.

Despite mounting pressure, the Taliban have ignored all appeals and, for the fourth consecutive year, continue to ban girls from attending secondary schools and universities, a policy that has left millions of Afghan girls deprived of education.