Women | ACW | 27 October 2026 — Susanna Fioretti, vice president of the Italian nonprofit NOVE Caring Humans, told Italy's Corriere della Sera that some daughters of Taliban members studied at the organisation's secret school for Afghan women and girls.

According to Amu TV, which published parts of the interview on Tuesday, Fioretti said the organisation set up the school after the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. The date of the Corriere della Sera interview is not clear from the report.

She said classes were held in a room with sewing machines, so that if Taliban officials came to inspect, the school would look like a women's sewing workshop. Books, paper and pens could be hidden and replaced with sewing materials.

Fioretti said that after about two years, the organisers discovered that some of the students were daughters of Taliban members. She added that the girls' parents wanted their daughters to be educated despite the ban.

According to Fioretti, not everyone linked to the Taliban holds the same view on girls' education, and some privately oppose restrictions they consider wrong. She said running the school carried serious risks, as it could have been reported to the Taliban's Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

Amu TV said it could not independently verify Fioretti's account. This story has not yet been confirmed by other sources. ACW could not locate the original interview on Corriere della Sera's website.

No response from the Taliban was included in the published reports.

Background: Since 23 March 2022 the Taliban have kept girls' schools above sixth grade closed, and since 20 December 2022 they have barred women from universities. NOVE has worked in Afghanistan since 2013 and, after the Taliban takeover, continued some programmes for women under agreements with the authorities. According to Amu TV, Fioretti presented the organisation's Women Business Prize Afghanistan at an event at the Italian Embassy in Kabul this month.

Why it matters: Afghanistan is the only country that systematically bars girls and women from secondary and higher education. If Fioretti's account is accurate, it suggests the ban is not accepted even within some families linked to the Taliban.

ACW will continue to follow this story.

Source: Corriere della Sera (via Amu TV)