Afghanistan has lost 500 million in a year by not allowing girls to continue studying, according to UNICEF

UNICEF has tried to maintain the hygiene and support programs that were previously provided in schools

MADRID, 14 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Taliban's veto of secondary education for girls has generated losses of 500 million dollars (euros) in the last year, since the Islamists took power in Kabul, according to a study by the United Nations Children's Fund ( Unicef).

This figure represents 2.5 percent of the annual Afghan GDP, in addition to depriving girls and young women of their right to training. According to the UNICEF study, if the three million girls who are currently of secondary school age could complete their training and participate in the labor market, girls and women could contribute at least 5,400 million dollars (5,261 million euros) to the Afghan economy.

However, these estimates do not take into account the non-financial impact of denying girls access to education, such as the future shortage of female teachers, doctors and nurses, the consequent impact on declining girls' primary school attendance and the increase in health costs related to teenage pregnancies, warns UNICEF.

They also do not take into account the broader benefits of education, such as overall educational success, reduced rates of child marriage, and lower infant mortality.

"The decision made on March 23 not to allow girls to return to secondary school was shocking and deeply disappointing. It not only violates girls' fundamental right to education, but also exposes them to greater anxiety and greater risk. of exploitation and abuse, including child trafficking and forced and early marriage," said Mohamed Ayoya, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan. "Now, this new analysis clearly explains the terrible economic impact that this decision has on the country's GDP," he added.

Even before the Taliban took power on August 15 last year, more than 4.2 million children in Afghanistan were out of school, 60% of them girls. Although the potential cost of not educating boys and girls alike is high in terms of lost earnings, not educating girls is especially costly because of the relationship between educational success and delayed marriage and childbearing, their involvement in the job market, making decisions about their own future, and investing more in their own children's health and education later on.

The analysis further shows that Afghanistan will not be able to recover the GDP lost during the transition or reach its true potential productivity if it does not respect the right of girls to access and complete secondary education.

"UNICEF wants to see every girl and boy in Afghanistan in school, learning," Ayoya said. "We will not stop until we achieve this goal. It is not just that education is a right for every child. It is that it is the basis for the future growth of Afghanistan," she stressed.

With girls unable to return to secondary school, there are other problems that UNICEF is trying to alleviate. The organization is working to provide adolescent girls with the services they need, such as support to prevent anemia or hygiene and menstrual health, that UNICEF used to provide in schools.

In the last twelve months, health and nutrition services in schools have reached 272,386 girls and adolescents with iron and folic acid supplements. In other words, the inability of girls to continue their education compromises their health, underlines UNCEF.

Child malnutrition is also on the rise. In June 2021, 30,000 children received treatment for acute malnutrition in the country. In June 2022 there were 57,000, that is, an increase of 90 percent.

In addition, UNICEF denounces, Children are being forced to work to support their families instead of going to school, the safest place they could be. "Afghanistan remains one of the most complex and multidimensional childhood crises in the world," Ayoya warned.

"This is a critical moment for an entire generation of children. Girls' rights are under attack; their childhoods are undermined by deprivation. So despite the difficulties of working in this environment, UNICEF is scaling up, helping and achieving results like never before", he highlighted.

Ayoya also thanked the Afghan population for their trust and that of donors and allies. "But we urge you to keep up your vital support for children, especially with winter just around the corner," he recalled.