The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OHCHR , UNITED NATIONS , UNOG
UN Human Rights Briefing on Afghanistan girls' education
At the bi-weekly Geneva press briefing on Tuesday, UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Marta Hurtado made the following comments on Afghanistan girls' education.
“This week girls in Afghanistan should have been starting another year in secondary school with hope and aspiration. But for the past year, girls have not been allowed to attend Grades 6 to 12. We urge the de facto authorities to open schools to girls at all levels, as well as to universities,” she said.
“The denial of a secondary school education, and then of access to university, is manifestly discriminatory, profoundly distressing for girls and women, along with their families and communities, and deeply damaging to the country as a whole,” Hurtado said.
“The decision to deny girls and women their right to an education exposes them to violence, poverty and exploitation,” she said.
Disempowering half of Afghanistan’s population is counterproductive and unjust. Structural discrimination such as this is also deeply damaging for the country’s prospects of future recovery and development.
Education is a fundamental human right. As a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Afghanistan is obliged to ensure that everyone has access to an education.
“The de facto authorities have pledged that all women and girls will be allowed to go to school. Our Office urges that they honour this promise, without delay,” she said.
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact:
Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or
Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or
Jeremy Laurence + +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org or
Marta Hurtado - + 41 22 917 9466 / marta.hurtadogomez@un.org
Tag and share
Twitter @UNHumanRights
Facebook unitednationshumanrights
Instagram @unitednationshumanrights
Tag and share - Twitter: @UNHumanRights and Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
- Exterior shot: Wide shot entrance of Palais des Nations
- Wide shot: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR): “This week girls in Afghanistan should have been starting another year in secondary school with hope and aspiration. But for the past year, girls have not been allowed to attend Grades 6 to 12. We urge the de facto authorities to open schools to girls at all levels, as well as to universities.”
- Cut aways: participants briefing room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR): “The denial of a secondary school education, and then of access to university, is manifestly discriminatory, profoundly distressing for girls and women, along with their families and communities, and deeply damaging to the country as a whole.”
- Cut aways: participants briefing room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR): “The decision to deny girls and women their right to an education exposes them to violence, poverty and exploitation.”
- Cut aways: participants briefing room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR): “The de facto authorities have pledged that all women and girls will be allowed to go to school. Our Office urges that they honour this promise, without delay.”
- Wide shot: Briefing room
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
UN peacekeepers are supporting civilians who’ve chosen to stay in the south amid deadly dangers from Israel-Hezbollah clashes, UNIFIL spokesperson Kandace Ardiel tells us.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , WFP
Middle East war fallout: Hundreds of thousands flee Lebanon to Syria; vital food aid blocked – UN agencies
The trauma of mass displacement and humanitarian supply chain disruptions throughout the world are among the devastating impacts of the war raging in the Middle East, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Bitterness, sadness and pride for UNRWA staff, says departing chief
Asking the softly spoken, veteran humanitarian worker Philippe Lazzarini how he feels as he comes to the end of his second term as the head of the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, is perhaps an unfair question.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , UN WOMEN , UNHCR , UNICEF , WHO
Middle East war causes civilian terror and disrupts aid, but some relief efforts resume.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk addressed the Human Rights Council, delivering a video statement on the strike that hit a girls school in Minab, Iran recently, calling for accountability and protection of children.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
A new UN Human Rights report published on Tuesday details the human rights impacts of the expanding reach of gangs in Haiti. According to data verified by the Office, at least 5,519 people were killed in Haiti, and 2,608 were injured between 1 March 2025 and 15 January 2026.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokesperson Marta Hurtado on Tuesday described the deadly impact of drone strikes in Sudan.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , OHCHR
Sudan: Hospital strike highlights surge in drone attacks on civilians
The death toll from a horrific attack on a hospital in Sudan’s Darfur has risen further, amid a “sharp increase” in drone attacks against civilians this year, UN agencies said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNCTAD
Middle East conflict impacts global trade, raising oil and commodity prices due to disruptions.
3
1
3
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
WMO State of the Global Climate 2025 report - UNDER EMBARGO 0400 GMT (0500 CET) Monday, 23 March 2026
UN weather agency warns of record ‘climate imbalance’ as planetary warming accelerates
All-time high greenhouse gas concentrations in our planet’s atmosphere continue to drive heat records on land and sea, with long-lasting consequences for humanity, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
A UN Human Rights Office report released today on Israel’s settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks on Tuesday concerning the deadly blast at a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul: