UN Agencies Warn of Major Shortage of Female Teachers and Health Workers in Afghanistan

DID Press: UNESCO has warned that the continued ban on girls’ education in Afghanistan will leave the country facing a shortage of thousands of female professionals in the education and healthcare sectors in the coming years.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said the continued restrictions on education for girls and women in Afghanistan would lead to a serious shortage of qualified female workers, particularly in education and healthcare.

In a report, UNESCO said no women had graduated from Afghanistan’s universities over the past five years, a situation that it warned would have far-reaching consequences for the country’s future skilled workforce and the delivery of essential services.

According to the report, following the Taliban’s return to power, secondary schools and universities were closed to girls and women.

Currently, around 2.4 million girls in Afghanistan are barred from continuing their secondary education. In 2026, no girls enrolled in the country’s universities.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that Afghanistan is expected to lose around 20,000 female teachers and 5,400 female healthcare workers over the next five years.

The agency said the declining number of qualified female professionals would seriously undermine millions of women’s and girls’ access to healthcare services, as women in many parts of Afghanistan rely on female doctors and healthcare workers for medical treatment.