The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) today warned that Afghanistan risks losing up to 20,000 women teachers and 5,400 healthcare workers by 2030 amid continuing restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment in the country.

In its latest analysis titled “The Cost of Inaction on Girls’ Education and Women’s Labour Force Participation in Afghanistan”, the UNICEF said that female representation in the civil services fell from 21 per cent to 17.7 per cent between 2023 and 2025.

It cautioned that the declining number of trained women professionals in schools and hospitals across Afghanistan would have devastating consequences for children’s education, health outcomes and future opportunities.

UNICEF stated that Afghanistan is facing a dual crisis-the loss of trained female professionals and the inability of the next generation to replace them.

Since the Afghan Taliban barred girls from secondary education in September 2021, UNICEF said that one million girls have been denied their right to learn in a country that already has one of the lowest female literacy rates in the world.

The analysis indicated that if the ban persists until 2030, more than two million girls in Afghanistan will be deprived of their right to education beyond primary school. It added that schools are already affected, with the number of female teachers in basic education declining by over 9 per cent – from nearly 73,000 in 2022 to around 66,000 in 2024.