Five years after Taliban takeover, Afghan women ‘erased from public life’

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Five years after the Taliban seized power, women and girls in Afghanistan have been systematically stripped of their rights, UN agencies said on Wednesday. De facto authorities have issued more than 100 decrees curbing education, work and freedom of movement – restrictions now compounded by deep cuts to aid on the ground.

Key points

• The Talban have issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls, including one that’s left 2.4 million girls excluded from secondary education
• Unprecedented restrictions have triggered a mental health crisis
• UN culture agency, UNESCO, calls for the full restoration of the right to education

In the past year alone, this exclusion of women and girls from education, employment, public life, justice systems and healthcare has only intensified, entrenching what remains the “world’s most severe women’s rights crisis”, the organization’s gender equality agency UN Women said.

‘Devastating’ impact

“The results are devastating,” the agency added, stressing that shorter life expectancy, higher risks of maternal death, child marriage and gender-based violence alongside the loss of education, work and freedom of movement have also triggered a mental health crisis.

Over the past five years, restrictive decrees targeting women and girls have institutionalised discrimination and stripped them of their fundamental rights, with profound consequences for their lives and communities, according to new UN Women data.

Read the full report here.

Shut in

Half of Afghan women interviewed leave home only once or twice a month because of the severe restrictions on their movement and access to public spaces, according to UN Women.

In addition, more women are also reporting feeling unsafe leaving home without a male guardian.

“This unparalleled crisis of women’s and girls’ rights is at risk of being forgotten by the world,” the agency said.

Shut out

As of 2026, an estimated 2.4 million girls remain excluded from secondary education, with restrictions reversing two decades of progress in expanding access to education.

“Afghanistan is the only country in the world to formally prohibit access to education for girls and women beyond the primary level,” UNESCO said in a statement.  

“The continued exclusion of girls and women from education constitutes a grave violation of their fundamental human right to learn and risks condemning Afghanistan to decades of lost potential, deepening poverty, and irreversible harm.” 

‘Erased from public life’

Barred from secondary school and university and excluded from most paid work, women also face legal barriers to protect them against all forms of violence, UNESCO said.

“Women have been erased from public life,” the UN agency said. “As a new generation of girls grows without an education, their future becomes increasingly dark.”

UNESCO called for the full restoration of the right to education for Afghan girls and women, echoing entreaties from many UN agencies and leaders to protect and promote their human rights.

Stark funding cuts

UN agencies are reporting that the global aid cutback trend have taken a toll on the ground in Afghanistan, with UN Women stating that nearly three-quarters of women-led organizations surveyed in Afghanistan experienced funding cuts in 2025.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan Bruno Lemarquis said funding gaps could, among other things, force health centre closures, “leaving thousands of mothers and newborns vulnerable to preventable complications and death”.

Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme warned last week that devastating funding cuts will affect food deliveries to the most hungry at a time when a hunger crisis is affecting 14 million Afghans.

What’s the UN doing?

Here’s a snapshot of how agencies are supporting Afghans:

• UN Women: Efforts include bolstering livelihoods, helping safeguard access to lifesaving services and supporting nearly 200 women-led civil society organisations
• UNESCO: Activities include improving education quality and providing community-based livelihood and vocational skills training opportunities
• The UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA: Support for such initiatives as mid-wife training and Family Health Houses, which save lives in hard-to-reach areas
• UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): From lifesaving vaccinations to building schools, efforts also support such emergency assistance as the response to recent deadly flash floods

Find out more about UN efforts in Afghanistan here.