NEWS ALERT : On December 2,2024 the Taliban issued an order forbidding women and girls from attending medical institutions including nursing and midwifery training in Afghanistan. This announcement comes as the final blow in a series of discriminatory bans that curtail freedoms and restrict access of Afghan women and girls to public life. Over the last three years, Afghan girls have been stopped from attending secondary school beyond sixth grade denying them representation and erasing their voices and agency.

As of December 5, 2024, the literacy rate for women in Afghanistan is among the lowest in the world, at only 20.6%[1] and the maternal mortality ratio is one of the highest globally at 638 per 100,000 live births.[2]

In many provinces, Afghan women are only allowed to seek medical care from female healthcare providers who have proved to be a lifeline amid the protracted crisis. The ban effectively excludes half the population from contributing to and benefiting from the healthcare system, placing the lives of countless women and girls at grave risk.

The violence women and girls in Afghanistan face is structural and systematic.

The situation is alarming as we continue to monitor the consequences the decision will have on the health, rights and dignity of all Afghan women and girls.  It poses a serious threat to the well-being of an entire nation with poor overall adult literacy rates and suffering critical healthcare shortages.

We stand firmly in solidarity with all Afghan women and girls as we call for immediate reversal of this order and an end to the systemic attacks on their rights. We will not back down as we continue to provide essential life-saving services and to support the voices of Afghan women and human rights defenders who continue to fight for freedom.