Taliban Mark 5 Years In Power As UN Cites Gender Persecution
Taliban leaders held a fifth-anniversary ceremony at Kabul's Loya Jirga hall on August 15, 2026, as the U.N. warned their governance amounts to gender persecution as a crime against humanity.[1]
U.N. special rapporteur Richard Bennett said in a video statement that the Taliban system "amounts to the crime against humanity of gender persecution." PBS Taliban officials gathered at the hall and used the event to celebrate their 2021 return to power.[1]
In 2021 the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. Since then, girls over age 12 have been barred from school, and women have been excluded from higher education, many jobs and most public spaces under Taliban decrees. UNESCO estimates roughly 2.4 million Afghan girls have been excluded from secondary education during five years of Taliban rule. The World Food Program reports child malnutrition has reached critical levels in about one-third of Afghanistan's provinces.
Rights advocates say the education bans, job restrictions and rising hunger have deepened a humanitarian crisis and further isolated Afghanistan diplomatically.
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📌 Key Facts
- On August 15, 2026, Taliban leaders held a fifth-anniversary ceremony at Kabul’s Loya Jirga hall celebrating their 2021 return to power.
- UN special rapporteur Richard Bennett said in a video statement that the Taliban system amounts to the crime against humanity of gender persecution.
- Girls over age 12 remain barred from school and women are excluded from higher education, many jobs and most public spaces under Taliban decrees.
- UNESCO estimates roughly 2.4 million Afghan girls have been excluded from secondary education during five years of Taliban rule.
- The World Food Program reports child malnutrition has reached critical levels in about one-third of Afghanistan’s provinces.
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