For girls in Afghanistan, five years out of school is a lifetime 

At home in northern Afghanistan, 14-year-old Kawsar* spends much of her time helping with household chores and thinking about the classroom she once shared with her friends. 

Kawsar dreams of becoming a midwife, helping women in her community and saving lives. But since completing Grade 6 in 2024, the classroom doors has been closed to her and millions of other adolescent girls. 

Kawsar attended a school close to home, where she learned alongside 13 classmates. Today, she misses not only the lessons, but also the friendships and sense of belonging that came with being part of school life. Since leaving the classroom, she has lost contact with many of her friends.  

“Being at home has made me mentally ill,” Kawsar says, with tears in her eyes. “Most of the time I fight with my sisters.” 

Each day, she watches her younger sister leave for Grade 3. For Kawsar, it's a painful reminder of the opportunities she can no longer access and the future she still hopes to build.  

*names have been changed throughout the article to protect identity. 

Kawsar is one of millions of girls in Afghanistan whose education has been interrupted since 2021. More than 2.6 million girls have been denied secondary education in the past five years, making Afghanistan the only country in the world where secondary and higher education is effectively closed to girls and women. 

For girls like Kawsar, five years is not just a stretch of time. It represents some of the most formative years of their lives, years that should have been spent learning, building friendships and preparing for the future. 

A generation of girls left waiting

Across Afghanistan, girls are finding their own ways to hold onto learning, even as formal education remains out of reach.  

Fifteen-year-old Shafiqa* is one of them.  

Since girls were barred from attending secondary school, she has spent her days studying at home, writing, drawing, helping with household chores and learning to sew. Determined not to give up, Shafiqa enrolled in an art course because she loved drawing. After a few months, that course was closed to girls too.  

She later joined a computer course, but six months later that opportunity also came to an end. 

Today, Shafiqa continues to study independently and practice the sewing skills her mother has taught her. But like so many girls in Afghanistan, her world has become smaller than it should be.

Shafiqa's determination reflects the resilience of countless girls across Afghanistan. But the consequences of being denied an education extend far beyond the individual girls who are unable to attend school.  

According to a UNICEF analysis, Afghanistan risks losing up to 20,000 women teachers and 5,400 female healthcare workers by 2030 if restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment continue.  

This affects every child in the country. When girls are denied the opportunity to learn, the impact does not stop at the classroom door. It ripples through families, communities, health systems and the future workforce of an entire nation. 

Female teachers play an important role in helping girls access and remain in education, while female health workers are essential to the health and wellbeing of women, newborns and children. In many communities, women and girls can only seek care from female professionals, making these roles critical to delivering healthcare services.  

A future put on hold

One of those future health workers could have been 17-year-old Fatima*. 

Since September 2021, Fatima has been unable to continue her education. Today, she spends her days helping at home and attending a first aid course near her house. She enrolled because her mother is unwell, hoping to learn skills that will allow her to care for her family and help neighbours who cannot easily access medical treatment. 

But first aid training is not the future she once imagined.  

Before schools closed, Fatima dreamed of becoming a doctor. Today, that dream feels increasingly out of reach.  

Fatima's story reflects the broader cost of denying girls an education. Female doctors, nurses, midwives and teachers play a vital role in Afghanistan, where women and girls often rely on female professionals to access healthcare and education. As opportunities for girls to continue their studies disappear, so too does the pipeline of future women professionals that communities depend on. 

Fatima understands that reality all too well. 

"If this situation continues for the next few years, there will be no female doctors and no female teachers left. This is a very painful and upsetting situation for me," she says. 

For Fatima's mother, the heartbreak is equally profound. 

"I always dreamed that my daughters would receive an education, achieve their goals and become useful members of society," she says. "Whenever I see my daughters not going to school, my heart breaks." 

For Fatima and millions of other children across Afghanistan, being denied an education is only one part of a much larger crisis.  

Childhood under pressure

The restrictions on girls’ education are unfolding alongside one of the world’s most complex humanitarian emergencies. Today, around 21.9 million people, including 11.6 million children, need urgent humanitarian support. Since the political transition in 2021, daily life has become increasingly difficult, particularly for women and girls. Children continue to face the impacts of trauma, displacement and harmful social norms, all of which can affect their wellbeing and development. 

Many families are also struggling to provide food for their families. More than 3.7 million children under five are at a heightened risk of malnutrition due to food insecurity, poor diets and limited access to basic services.  

At the same time, families are returning to Afghanistan from neighbouring countries with urgent humanitarian needs. Since late 2023, more than 6 million people have returned to Afghanistan, primarily from Iran and Pakistan. Children and young people make up a significant proportion of those returning, placing additional pressure on already stretched services and communities.  

For children in Afghanistan, this means that the loss of education is often just one challenge among many. Poverty, displacement, hunger, uncertainty and protection risks are shaping childhoods across the country, limiting opportunities for children to learn, grow and thrive.  

Supporting children through crisis

Amid these challenges, UNICEF continues to support children and families across Afghanistan.  

In 2025 alone, more than 3.7 million children in public schools received emergency education support, while 442,000 children participated in community-based learning programs, 66 per cent of them girls. UNICEF and its partners also helped build or rehabilitate 232 schools, creating more opportunities for children to continue learning despite ongoing restrictions. 

Beyond education, UNICEF is working with partners to help children survive and thrive by providing nutrition screening, safe water, vaccinations, primary healthcare and child protection services, including support at border crossings, reception centres and in communities receiving returning families. 

The future girls are still fighting for 

For millions of girls across Afghanistan, education has been interrupted, friendships have been disrupted, and opportunities that once felt within reach have slipped further away.

Yet girls like Kawsar, Shafiqa and Fatima continue to hold on to their ambitions. 

They continue to learn where they can. They continue to support their families and communities. And despite years of uncertainty, they continue to imagine a different future. 

Five years after girls were first barred from secondary school, the world cannot allow another generation to be left behind. Every girl has the right to learn, to be safe, and to pursue her dreams. Every year that passes without action makes those opportunities harder to reclaim. 

UNICEF is calling for all girls and women to be allowed to return to schools and universities immediately. 

For Kawsar, Shafiqa, Fatima and millions of girls across Afghanistan, the classroom is still waiting, and so too is the future they deserve.