UN Women: The Deprivation of Women and Girls in Afghanistan is Catastrophic; Global Action is Needed

The report states that with the Taliban's restrictions on girls' education beyond the sixth grade, about 1.1 million girls have been deprived of education.

The UN Women describes the current situation in Afghanistan as an unprecedented international challenge for targeted interventions on gender equality.

It should be mentioned that since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, they have stripped women and girls of their basic rights. Through various decrees, the group has targeted the country's gender equality infrastructure and suspended the activities of related organizations.

The Taliban abolished the Ministry of Women's Affairs, which had been actively promoting women's rights during the two decades of the republic's governance. The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice now operates in its building. The Human Rights Commission's activities have also been suspended, and women have been banned from working in judicial and legal institutions.

The UN Women report states that the Taliban have systematically dismantled all institutions and infrastructure that worked towards women's empowerment and gender equality between 2001 and 2021.

The report adds that with the prohibition of these organizations' activities, collecting data on gender equality issues in Afghanistan has become difficult.

Additionally, the report mentions that it has been over a thousand days since the ban on girls' education in Afghanistan was imposed, and women and girls are deprived of the most basic and fundamental rights besides education.

The release of this report by the UN Women comes as the United Nations hosts an international meeting on Afghanistan in Doha without the presence of women.