Physical Address
FRANKFURT, GERMANY.
About this update
This update on the human rights situation in
Afghanistan, covering the period from January
to March 2026,1
is based on monitoring by the
UNAMA Human Rights Service conducted in
accordance with its mandate from the UN
Security Council.2
Women’s rights
Work
Since 7 September 2025, the de facto
authorities have prevented Afghan women
(including UN staff, contractors and visitors)
from entering United Nations premises across
the country. 31 March marked the 205th day
Afghan women have been unable to access
UN premises countrywide.
On 17 January 2026, media outlets reported
that the de facto authorities had removed
women from the civil service payroll, ending
the reduced salaries previously paid to women
government employees who were banned
from attending their offices since August
2021.3
In some provinces, employers told
women they had been dismissed from their
positions and were no longer government
employees, while in others they received no
notification and only realised they had been
dismissed when they did not receive their
monthly salary payment.
Education
The new academic year commenced in March.
With this, the de facto authorities’ ban on girls
and women accessing education beyond
grade six enters its fifth consecutive year.
According to UNESCO, 2.2 million Afghan girls
[1]All dates referenced refer to 2026, unless otherwise specified.
[2] United Nations Security Council Resolution 2626 (2022), extended by Resolution 2818 (2026).
[3] UNAMA/OHCHR, Update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan: April – June 2024, 30 July 2024. Source:
https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/english_-_unama_hrs_-_update_hr_situation_afghanistan_april-june_2024.pdf.
[4] UNESCO, Afghanistan: Four years on, 2.2 million girls still banned from school, 14 August 2025. Source:
https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/afghanistan-four-years-22-million-girls-still-banned-school.
[5] UNAMA/OHCHR, Update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan: October – December 2025, 8 February 2026. Source:
https://unama.unmissions.org/en/document-library/update-human-rights-situation-afghanistan-october-december-2025.
[6] Chador: A full-body cloak that covers the head and body.
and women have been denied access to
secondary and higher education since 2021.4
Restrictions on women’s freedom of
movement
Inspectors of the de facto Propagation of
Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Herat
continue to require women to wear chadors in
public.5 UNAMA documented numerous
instances of de facto Propagation of Virtue
and Prevention of Vice inspectors ordering
women in Herat to exit public transportation or
briefly detaining them because they were not
wearing chadors.6 For example:
• On 11 January, a woman was ordered out
of a taxi in Herat city because she was
not wearing a chador.
• On 12 February, two women were
ordered off a bus in Herat city because
they were not wearing chadors. The de
facto Propagation of Virtue and
Prevention of Vice inspectors ordered
them to call their families to bring them
chadors; once they had done so and put
on the chadors, the women were allowed
to leave the area.
• On 23 March, de facto Propagation of
Virtue and Prevention of Vice inspectors
stationed in different parts of Jibreil area
of Herat city stopped women who were
not wearing chadors. They detained them
by the roadside until family members
brought them a chador.
UNAMA documented other restrictions of
women’s freedom of movement. In Uruzgan,
Paktya and Kandahar, inspectors of de facto
Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice
instructed health centres not to treat women
without a mahram, and that female healthcare
