Amnesty Calls for Global Action to Reopen Girls’ Schools in Afghanistan

Five Years of Stolen Dreams: Amnesty International Demands Coordinated International Response to Taliban’s Education Ban

KABUL — Amnesty International has urged the international community to take coordinated and concrete action against the Taliban as Afghanistan marks five years since girls were banned from attending secondary schools, describing the anniversary as “five years of stolen dreams” for millions of Afghan girls.

In a statement marking the fifth anniversary of the ban, Amnesty International said millions of girls in Afghanistan have been denied their fundamental right to education since the Taliban closed secondary schools to girls in September 2021. The rights organization called for immediate and sustained international pressure on the Taliban to reopen schools and end what it described as systematic discrimination against women and girls.

A Generation Denied: The Human Cost of the Ban

Amnesty highlighted the testimony of a 17-year-old Afghan student who recalled being turned away from school on the day classes were expected to resume. Her account captures the profound personal toll of the ban on millions of young women across the country.

“I was so excited to return to school, but they did not let us enter the classroom,” the student said in the organization’s statement. “What am I supposed to do with my life within the four walls of my home?”

The student’s testimony reflects the broader crisis facing Afghan girls, who have seen their aspirations for education, careers, and full participation in public life systematically dismantled over the past five years. The ban has not only halted academic progress but has also isolated many young women, cutting them off from peers, mentors, and the broader world beyond their households.

Resistance and Resilience: Afghan Women Fight Back

Despite the increasingly restrictive environment, Amnesty International said Afghan women and girls have continued to resist the restrictions through a range of creative and courageous means. These include peaceful protests, underground online schools, community-based education initiatives, and seeking education abroad despite increasing risks and intimidation.

The organization said these acts of resistance demonstrate that Afghan women continue to demand their fundamental rights despite years of repression. The determination of Afghan women and girls, often at great personal risk, has become a defining feature of the resistance to the Taliban’s gender-based policies.

A Call for Accountability: ‘Break the Silence’ Campaign

Amnesty International renewed its global petition under the campaign “Break the Silence: End Human Rights Violations in Afghanistan,” calling on governments to establish a strong international accountability mechanism to investigate and respond to the Taliban’s human rights abuses.

The campaign builds on Amnesty’s advocacy launched in late 2024 and argues that statements of concern alone have failed to halt the Taliban’s restrictions. The organization is pressing for tangible measures, including targeted sanctions, legal accountability, and coordinated diplomatic pressure, to compel the Taliban to reverse its policies.

International Warnings: A Global Outlier

The United Nations, UNESCO, UNICEF, and other international organizations have repeatedly warned that Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls are barred from secondary and higher education nationwide. UN agencies have said the ban has deprived an entire generation of girls of educational opportunities and is expected to have long-term economic and social consequences for the country.

The consequences extend beyond individual girls and their families. Economists and development experts warn that excluding women from education and the workforce will cripple Afghanistan’s economic recovery, perpetuate poverty, and undermine any prospects for long-term stability and peace.

Voices of Dissent: Afghan Human Rights Defenders Speak Out

Amnesty also cited Afghan human rights defender Trina Wadud, who criticized the international response to the Taliban’s policies. Her remarks underscore the frustration felt by many Afghan activists who believe the international community has not done enough to hold the Taliban accountable.

“It is astonishing that the international community still expects the Taliban to respect human rights,” she said, urging governments to move beyond diplomatic statements and adopt meaningful measures to protect Afghan women and girls.

Wadud’s criticism reflects a growing sentiment among Afghan women’s rights advocates that years of international statements, resolutions, and expressions of concern have yielded little in the way of concrete change on the ground.

Demands for Change: What Amnesty Is Calling For

The organization called on the Taliban to take a series of concrete steps to restore fundamental rights:

• Lift restrictions on girls’ education and allow girls to return to secondary schools and universities without delay.

• End gender-based persecution and cease all policies that systematically discriminate against women and girls.

• Allow women and girls to participate fully in education, employment, and public life.

• Stop corporal punishment and other forms of violence used to enforce Taliban policies.

• Establish an independent and impartial justice system that upholds the rule of law and protects the rights of all Afghans.

Amnesty said these steps are essential to restoring fundamental rights and ensuring Afghanistan’s future stability. Without them, the organization warned, the country risks entrenching a permanent underclass of women and girls who are denied the most basic tools to build fulfilling and productive lives.

Five Years On: A Defining Human Rights Crisis

Five years after the Taliban’s return to power, Amnesty International said the continued exclusion of girls from education has become one of the defining human rights crises in Afghanistan and called on the international community to respond with “urgent, principled and coordinated action.”

The organization’s message is clear: statements of concern are no longer enough. As Afghanistan’s girls enter a sixth year of being locked out of classrooms, the window for meaningful international action is narrowing, and the cost of inaction measured in lost potential, shattered dreams, and a generation denied its future continues to mount.

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