Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Pashto article.
The United Nations is calling on the Taliban to reopen schools for Afghan girls beyond sixth grade, saying keeping girls in school is “one of the most powerful ways” to protect their rights and prevent child marriage.
“[L]et us renew our commitment to end child marriage by promoting a healthy childhood, sustain advocacy for access to education and support opportunities for every girl child in Afghanistan, Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan, said in a statement issued Sunday to mark the International Day of the Girl Child.
The International Day of the Girl Child is observed every year on October 11 to highlight girls’ rights and the challenges they face.
This year’s theme was “Ending child marriage and investing in girls’ rights.”
A survey by the Afghanistan Reconstruction Fund and UNICEF released in 2023 said that 28.7 percent of women aged 20-24 were married before the age of 18.
The survey also reported that in some parts of the country, as many as one in two girls were married before the age of 18.”
Mohammad Asif Nang, former acting minister for the Afghan Ministry of Education, told VOA that girls should have access to education so they can complete their studies before reaching the legal age of marriage.
“On the contrary, if they don’t graduate [from high school], they have no little choice but to get married, as they are not involved in economic activities, particularly in rural areas,” he said.
The Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, barred girls and women from education beyond sixth grade.
In addition to ensuring girls’ education, UNICEF says that preventing child marriage in Afghanistan needs multiple measures, including investing in health, education and protection services that address girls’ needs.
This also includes “supporting vulnerable families and communities so that no household has to turn to child marriage to cope with economic hardship,” said UNICEF.
Nadia Bawari, a social worker in the southeastern Afghan province of Khost, told VOA poverty, illiteracy and lack of awareness are the main reasons that families resort to child marriage.
“Many families, because of the bad economic situation, make their girls marry at a younger age, which destroys the girls’ lives,” Bawari said.
She called on the Taliban and the international community to work to decrease the number of early marriages.