Human Rights | A senior UN official says Afghan women and girls face severe and sweeping Taliban restrictions, as 6.7 million Afghans have returned to the country since 2020

ACW | November 7, 2026 — Afghan women and girls face "severe and sweeping" restrictions, the U.N.'s deputy special representative for Afghanistan, Bruno Lemarquis, said on Friday, Nov. 6, U.N. News reported.

Lemarquis, who is also the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, said the country stands at a "difficult crossroad" more than five years after the Taliban returned to power. U.N. News did not say where he made the remarks.

More than 2.6 million girls have been denied secondary education since 2021, and female university enrollment now stands at zero, he said. He called the restrictions on girls' schooling one of the world's most sensitive education challenges.

Since September 2025, Afghan women staff have been barred from entering U.N. premises across the country, and the ban has not been lifted, Lemarquis said.

About 6.7 million people have returned to Afghanistan since 2020, many of them forcibly expelled from Pakistan and Iran, he said. Some had never lived in the country and need legal documents, protection and "jobs, jobs, jobs."

Humanitarian funding fell from $2 billion in 2023 to $1 billion in 2025, and only $570 million has been received so far this year, Lemarquis said. About 700 of 1,900 primary health posts are expected to close in 2025 and 2026.

He warned that needs will rise sharply in 2027 and that the effects could reach beyond Afghanistan's borders. "What is happening in Afghanistan is not staying in Afghanistan," he said. The Taliban did not respond in published reports.

Background: Afghan outlet Etilaatroz also reported the remarks on Nov. 7. Earlier, UNESCO and UNICEF said in a report that 53% of Afghan primary-age children are outside formal education.

Why it matters: According to the U.N.'s top humanitarian official in Afghanistan, more than 2.6 million girls have been kept out of secondary school since 2021, and Afghan women working for the U.N. are still barred from its offices.

ACW will continue to follow this story.

Sources: UN News — Afghanistan faces deepening humanitarian crisis amid sweeping rights restrictions; Etilaatroz — UN: Afghanistan faces a worsening humanitarian crisis

Photo: UNAMA — Bruno Lemarquis, U.N. deputy special representative for Afghanistan