The United Nations has warned that Afghanistan risks producing a 'lost generation' as an estimated 3.8 million girls aged between 7 and 18 years remain barred from education under Taliban restrictions, according to a statement delivered to the UN Security Council on Monday, 9 June 2025. The warning underscores the deepening humanitarian and developmental crisis gripping the country more than three years after the Taliban's return to power.

Key Figures Presented to the Security Council

Acting head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Georgette Gagnon, told the Security Council that of the 3.8 million out-of-school girls, over 2.6 million are adolescent girls specifically banned from secondary education. She added that approximately 250,000 additional girls are excluded from secondary schooling every year, compounding an already acute crisis.

Gagnon stated that continued restrictions on women and girls 'have a long-term impact on Afghanistan's social and economic development.' She also noted that Afghanistan has shown limited signs of economic stabilisation, with little growth, though revenue collection has marginally improved.

Humanitarian Crisis Deepens

Director of Crisis Response at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Edem Wosornu, told the Council that around 21.9 million people will require humanitarian assistance in 2026. Of these, 4.7 million are at risk of acute food insecurity, and 3.7 million children are facing acute malnutrition. Wosornu flagged that humanitarian operations are being hampered by severe funding shortages.

Compounding the strain, up to 2.8 million Afghans are expected to return from neighbouring countries in 2026, placing additional pressure on a population already grappling with unemployment, poverty, and limited public services.

Five Consecutive Years Without Girls in Classrooms

Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban has systematically restricted Afghan women and girls — banning girls from secondary schools beyond the sixth grade, barring women from universities, and limiting their access to employment and public spaces.

The new academic year that began in March 2025 marked the fifth consecutive year in which girls above sixth grade did not return to classrooms. On 4 June 2025, the third round of university entrance examinations — known as the Kankor — commenced at Kabul University for the fourth consecutive year without female participation. The Taliban-run National Examination Authority conducted the exams for 12th-grade graduates from Kabul province.

Rahimullah Haqqani, administrative and technical deputy head of the National Examination Authority, said over 110,000 candidates appeared across the first three rounds of the examinations.

What Comes Next

The UN's repeated warnings have yet to produce a policy reversal from the Taliban, which has shown no indication of lifting the bans. With funding shortfalls threatening humanitarian operations and a large returnee influx expected in 2026, the window for preventing a full generational setback is narrowing. International pressure at the Security Council level remains the primary — if so far insufficient — lever available to the international community.