Plight of Afghan women and girls must not fall off agenda – Helen McEntee

Foreign affairs minister said more than 2.6m girls have been denied access to secondary school since the Taliban took control in 2021

A family fleeing the Taliban in 2021 arriving at Melsbroek military air base in Belgium. Women and girls left behind in Afghanistan have been excluded from 'public life, employment, education, and access to justice'. Picture: Johanna Geron/Reuters

International leaders cannot allow the “dire” humanitarian situation in Afghanistan to fall off the agenda, the foreign affairs minister has said.

Helen McEntee said more than 2.6m girls have been denied access to secondary level education since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021.