Adriana Viola Miranda

Ahmed Said Abdou Elsayed Negida

Aniekan Ekpenyong

Attaullah Ahmadi

Blaise Ntacyabukura

Brian Li Han Wong

Creuza Rachel Vicente

Deborah Oluwaseun Shomuyiwa

Don Eliseo Lucero‐Prisno III

Emery Manirambona

Goodness Ogeyi Odey

Isaac Olushola Ogunkola

Jaifred Christian F. Lopez

Joseph Christian Obnial

Julian M. A. Buban

Leonard Thomas Sy Lim

Lila K. Chamlagai

Nelson Ashinedu Ukor

Paolo Miguel Manalang Vicerra

Shohra Qaderi

Shuaibu Saidu Musa

Yasir Ahmed Mohammed Elhadi

Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi

Don Eliseo Lucero‐Prisno

Crossref

Taliban's war on educating girls and women must end now: A call for global actions

Qaderi, Shohra

Miranda, Adriana Viola

Odey, Goodness Ogeyi

Musa, Shuaibu Saidu

Sy Lim, Leonard Thomas

Vicente, Creuza Rachel

Obnial, Joseph Christian

Ekpenyong, Aniekan

Negida, Ahmed Said Abdou Elsayed

Ahmadi, Attaullah

Ntacyabukura, Blaise

Wong, Brian Li Han

Shomuyiwa, Deborah Oluwaseun

Manirambona, Emery

Ogunkola, Isaac Olushola

Lopez, Jaifred Christian F.

Buban, Julian M.A.

Chamlagai, Lila K.

Ukor, Nelson Ashinedu

Vicerra, Paolo Miguel Manalang

Adebisi, Yusuff Adebayo

Elhadi, Yasir Ahmed Mohammed

Lucero-Prisno, Don Eliseo

Maastricht University Research Portal

Taliban's war on educating girls and women must end now:A call for global actions

Buban, Julian M. A.

Lucero‐Prisno, Don Eliseo

Enlighten

Received: 11 February 2023 Accepted: 19 March 2023DOI: 10.1002/puh2.80E D I T O R I A LTaliban’s war on educating girls and women must end now: A callfor global actionsThe Taliban’s decision to ban women’s and girl’s education in Afghanistan paints a bleak picture of the future of Afghanwomen [1]. It is a direct violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which states that everyone has theright to education [2]. Deprivation of education is known to negatively affect other human rights, such as the rights to healthand freedom. We, as health journal editors from across six continents, call for urgent international actions to restore justice andprotect human rights in Afghanistan.The Taliban’s takeover in August 2021 added massive pressure to the already overwhelmed health system of Afghanistan [3].Afghan women and girls have been disproportionately affected, as the Taliban adhere to an ultra-fundamentalist interpretationof Islam that severely restricts women’s freedom of movement and access to healthcare, education, and employment. Althoughthe Taliban have repeatedly claimed that they would protect the rights of girls and women, they have in fact done the opposite.Some of their most drastic restrictions have been around education. In March 2022, the Taliban banned girls from returningto secondary schools [5]. This was followed by another decision in December 2022 to indefinitely ban women and girls frompursuing higher education and work [1]. Years of progress were reversed overnight, with Afghanistan once again becoming theonly country in the world that actively prevents girls from receiving an education.The education crisis has had a huge impact on the social determinants of health across the country, leading to devastatinghealth outcomes for Afghan women [4]. Even before the ban on education, Afghanistan’s health indicators had already beenrapidly deteriorating since the Taliban takeover. A United Nations Women survey reported that in 2022, only 10% of womencould cover their basic health needs, compared to 23% of men [5]. This is a major setback compared to the 90% coverageof basic health services that the Afghan population had just prior to the takeover [6]. Another survey reported staff shortages,particularly because the Taliban only allow women to be attended by female healthcare workers. The maternal mortality rate,after decades of significant reductions, is projected to be on the rise [7].The deprivation of education and the increasing restrictions that act to keep women confined to their homes impact everyaspect of their well-being, including mental and physical health, food insecurity, immunization status, and access to medicalcare [5–9]. Prior to and during the first year of the Taliban’s regime, school-based public health interventions had been vital forreaching Afghan girls. For instance, the United Nations reported that between August 2021 and 2022, 272,386 adolescent girlsreceived iron and folic acid supplementation in schools [10].Schools had also provided safe spaces for Afghan women. They reduced the risk of exploitation, abuse, and child and forcedmarriage [10, 11]. In 2016, Afghan government data reported that girls deprived of education had their risk of entering childmarriage increased threefold compared to girls who completed at least secondary education [11]. As school closures becomemore rampant, Afghan women become deprived of their right to health and freedom from violence. The education ban is alsodenying them and the whole nation of better socioeconomic conditions, which are inextricably linked to improving nationalhealth status. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that in the last 12 months, the ban cost Afghanistan atleast US$500 million [10]. Furthermore, the ban also cuts the access of female healthcare students to education, exacerbatingthe shortage of female healthcare workers [7, 11]. This is detrimental to the health status of women, who are now unable toseek care from both male healthcare workers and the ever decreasing number of female health workers.The grim reality that is unfolding in Afghanistan has a striking resemblance with the reality of the Taliban’s first rule in the1990s, which also banned girls’ education. At that time, persistent conflicts, deprivation of education, and increasing povertyrates led to the collapse of Afghanistan’s health system and provided almost no access to health services for women. Thiswas partly due to the severe international sanctions imposed on the Taliban regime. The situation improved during the decadesof post-Taliban rule, which saw significant international support through financial aid and other development support [12].This highlights the importance of international and collective actions. Protecting human rights and improving living conditionsThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the originalwork is properly cited.© 2023 The Authors. Public Health Challenges published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Public Health Chall. 2023;2:e80. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/puh2 1 of 4https://doi.org/10.1002/puh2.802 of 4 EDITORIALshould be conducted at the global level due to its huge impact and moral reasons-to foster long lasting peace, humans must notleave others behind. Actions against the Afghan crisis, while not directly affecting other countries, are a testament to the beliefthat human rights should be universal, irrespective of one’s gender, belief, ethnicity, or nationality.As history repeats itself with the resurgence of the Taliban regime, the international community is once again imposingsanctions on the Taliban. Although these efforts may be successful at pressuring the Taliban government, their severe impact onthe ordinary civilians, including women, should also be considered. Coupled with the Taliban’s active deprivation of women’srights, sanction-related poverty has worsened women’s living conditions. In addition, the complexity of operating humanitarianefforts amidst international sanctions continues to limit access to basic services [13]. Balancing these political and humanitarianefforts should be the priority of the international community.Now more than ever, the world has become more connected. This calls for urgent actions and increased pressure fromthe international community to end the Taliban’s restrictions on the right of Afghan women and girls to quality education.Recognition, aid, and legitimization of the Taliban by the international community should be hinged upon visible proof ofinclusivity, respect for human rights, and people-centered governance, beginning with girls being able to access equitableand quality education across all levels. There is a need for dialogue with the Taliban on the importance of women and girlseducation for national growth and socioeconomic development, as well as strong condemnation of the current school ban. Thisengagement is best led by Islamic scholars, influential personalities, and religious leaders, who are well poised to advocatefor the prioritization of equal and quality education in the Islamic context. Although the current ban continues, internationaldevelopment organizations in Afghanistan should explore and provide alternative educational support to girls, which bring themat pace with the boys in school [14].Ending the Taliban’s war against women, such as the education ban, requires global actions. Everyone, including Afghanwomen, is entitled to the protection of their basic needs and rights. The actions of the global community will not only affect thecurrent generation but also Afghan generations to come.C O N F L I C T O F I N T E R E S T S TAT E M E N TAll authors are editorial board members of the journal. They were excluded and blinded from all stages of the peer review ofthis manuscript.F U N D I N G I N F O R M AT I O NThere is no funding for the development of this paper.D ATA AVA I L A B I L I T Y S TAT E M E N TNo database or primary data was used in writing the paper.E T H I C S S TAT E M E N TThere is no need for ethical approval.Shohra Qaderi1Adriana Viola Miranda2Goodness Ogeyi Odey3Shuaibu Saidu Musa4Leonard Thomas Sy Lim5Creuza Rachel Vicente6Joseph Christian Obnial7Aniekan Ekpenyong8Ahmed Said Abdou Elsayed Negida9Attaullah Ahmadi10Blaise Ntacyabukura11Brian Li Han Wong12,13Deborah Oluwaseun Shomuyiwa14Emery Manirambona15Isaac Olushola Ogunkola3Jaifred Christian F. Lopez16Julian M. A. Buban17Lila K. Chamlagai18Nelson Ashinedu Ukor19Paolo Miguel Manalang Vicerra20Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi21 27692450, 2023, 2, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/puh2.80 by NHS Education for Scotland NES, Edinburgh Central Office, Wiley Online Library on [03/09/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons LicenseEDITORIAL 3 of 4Yasir Ahmed Mohammed Elhadi22Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno III23,24,251Maternal-Fetal Care Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, Boston, USA2Global Health Focus (GHF) Asia, Bandung, Indonesia3Department of Public Health, College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria4Department of Nursing Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria5College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines6Department of Social Medicine, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Espírito Santo, Vitória, Brazil7Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines8Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK9Department of Neurology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia, Richmond, USA10Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, Paris, France11Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden12Department of International Health, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University,Maastricht, The Netherlands13Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER), Brussels, Belgium14Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria15College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda16Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University, North Carolina, Durham, USA17College of Medicine, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines18School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA19Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria20Asian Demographic Research Institute, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China21Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK22Department of Public Health, Sudanese Medical Research Association, Khartoum, Sudan23Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK24Faculty of Management and Development Studies, University of the Philippines Open University, Los Baños, Laguna,Philippines25Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok, ThailandCorrespondenceAdriana Viola Miranda, Global Health Focus (GHF) Asia, Bandung, Indonesia.Email: adriana.miranda@ghfocus.orgO R C I DAdriana Viola Miranda https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8548-1592Goodness Ogeyi Odey https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2374-9909Shuaibu Saidu Musa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0138-3261Ahmed Said Abdou Elsayed Negida https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5363-6369Blaise Ntacyabukura https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4584-5686Brian Li Han Wong https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8709-5847Deborah Oluwaseun Shomuyiwa https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6665-9439Emery Manirambona https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0579-3607Isaac Olushola Ogunkola https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2220-1869Jaifred Christian F. Lopez https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8273-992XLila K. Chamlagai https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3613-2534Paolo Miguel Manalang Vicerra https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3076-7440Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2381-0984Yasir Ahmed Mohammed Elhadi https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3649-0374R E F E R E N C E S1. Yeung J. “What was Their Sacrifice for?”: Devastation for Female Afghan Students Stripped of Education. CNN. Published December 2022. AccessedJanuary 5, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/22/asia/taliban-bans-female-students-afghanistan-reaction-intl-hnk/index.html2. United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. United Nations. 1948. Accessed January 5, 2023. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2021/03/udhr.pdf 27692450, 2023, 2, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/puh2.80 by NHS Education for Scotland NES, Edinburgh Central Office, Wiley Online Library on [03/09/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License4 of 4 EDITORIAL3. Lucero-Prisno DE, Essar MY, Ahmadi A, Lin X, Adebisi YA. Conflict and COVID-19: a double burden for Afghanistan’s healthcare system. ConflHealth. 2020;14(1):65. doi:10.1186/s13031-020-00312-x4. Quadri SA, Ahmadi A, Madadi S, Qaderi S, Lucero-Prisno DE 3rd. Taliban takeover of Afghanistan: what will be its impact on healthcare? Med ConflSurviv. 2022;38(2):109-115. doi:10.1080/13623699.2022.20727965. UN Women. Gender Alert No. 2: Women’s Rights in Afghanistan One Year After the Taliban Take-Over. UN Women - Headquarters. Published August15, 2022. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-08/Gender-alert-2-Womens-rights-in-Afghanistan-one-year-after-the-Taliban-take-over-en_0.pdf6. Afghanistan’s Health System is on the Brink of Collapse: Urgent Action is Needed. Universal Health Coverage Partnership. Universal Health CoveragePartnership. Published January 24, 2022. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://extranet.who.int/uhcpartnership/story/afghanistans-health-system-brink-collapse-urgent-action-needed7. Rabia J, Nancy G, Leonard R. The Maternal and Child Health Crisis in Afghanistan. 2022. Accessed January 10, 2023. http://hopkinshumanitarianhealth.org/assets/documents/Matern-Child-Health-Afghanistan-Report-FINAL_30-Oct_2.pdf8. Acuti Martellucci C, Qaderi S, Tanimoto T, Ozaki A. Afghan women and children’s health: three main challenges under Taliban and COVID-19. J GlobHealth. 2021;11:03126. doi:10.7189/jogh.11.03126. Published 2021 Dec 18.9. Qaderi S, Ahmadi A, Lucero-Prisno DE III. Afghanistan: Taliban’s return imperils maternal health. Nature. 2021;597(7877):475. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-02551-110. UNICEF South Asia. Depriving Girls of Secondary Education Translates to a Loss of at Least US$500 Million for Afghan Economy in Last 12Months. www.unicef.org. Published August 15, 2022. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.unicef.org/rosa/press-releases/depriving-girls-secondary-education-translates-loss-least-us500-million-afghan11. Barr H, Shuja A, Gossman P, Martinez E. “I Won’t Be a Doctor, and One Day You’ll Be Sick.”. 2017. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/10/17/i-wont-be-doctor-and-one-day-youll-be-sick/girls-access-education-afghanistan#_ftn7412. Ezadi Z, Mohammadi N, Sarwari R, Jafari SM. Afghan women and access to health care in the past 25 years. EClinicalMedicine. 2021;43:101235.doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101235. Published 2021 Dec 13.13. Blanchet K, Shafique F. The Afghan population needs a national health system to survive and continued support from international donors. Lancet RegHealth Eur. 2022;25:100572. doi:10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100572. Published 2022 Dec 24.14. Ahmadi B, Ebadi A. Taliban’s Ban on Girls’ Education in Afghanistan. United States Institute of Peace; 2022. Published. April 1, 2022. Accessed January10, 2023. https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/04/talibans-ban-girls-education-afghanistan 27692450, 2023, 2, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/puh2.80 by NHS Education for Scotland NES, Edinburgh Central Office, Wiley Online Library on [03/09/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License

Taliban's war on educating girls and women must end now: a call for global actions

Lopez, Jaifred Christian F

Buban, Julian M A

Chamlagai, Lila K

Oxford University Research Archive

Received: 11 February 2023 Accepted: 19 March 2023DOI: 10.1002/puh2.80E D I T O R I A LTaliban’s war on educating girls and women must end now: A callfor global actionsThe Taliban’s decision to ban women’s and girl’s education in Afghanistan paints a bleak picture of the future of Afghanwomen [1]. It is a direct violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which states that everyone has theright to education [2]. Deprivation of education is known to negatively affect other human rights, such as the rights to healthand freedom. We, as health journal editors from across six continents, call for urgent international actions to restore justice andprotect human rights in Afghanistan.The Taliban’s takeover in August 2021 added massive pressure to the already overwhelmed health system of Afghanistan [3].Afghan women and girls have been disproportionately affected, as the Taliban adhere to an ultra-fundamentalist interpretationof Islam that severely restricts women’s freedom of movement and access to healthcare, education, and employment. Althoughthe Taliban have repeatedly claimed that they would protect the rights of girls and women, they have in fact done the opposite.Some of their most drastic restrictions have been around education. In March 2022, the Taliban banned girls from returningto secondary schools [5]. This was followed by another decision in December 2022 to indefinitely ban women and girls frompursuing higher education and work [1]. Years of progress were reversed overnight, with Afghanistan once again becoming theonly country in the world that actively prevents girls from receiving an education.The education crisis has had a huge impact on the social determinants of health across the country, leading to devastatinghealth outcomes for Afghan women [4]. Even before the ban on education, Afghanistan’s health indicators had already beenrapidly deteriorating since the Taliban takeover. A United Nations Women survey reported that in 2022, only 10% of womencould cover their basic health needs, compared to 23% of men [5]. This is a major setback compared to the 90% coverageof basic health services that the Afghan population had just prior to the takeover [6]. Another survey reported staff shortages,particularly because the Taliban only allow women to be attended by female healthcare workers. The maternal mortality rate,after decades of significant reductions, is projected to be on the rise [7].The deprivation of education and the increasing restrictions that act to keep women confined to their homes impact everyaspect of their well-being, including mental and physical health, food insecurity, immunization status, and access to medicalcare [5–9]. Prior to and during the first year of the Taliban’s regime, school-based public health interventions had been vital forreaching Afghan girls. For instance, the United Nations reported that between August 2021 and 2022, 272,386 adolescent girlsreceived iron and folic acid supplementation in schools [10].Schools had also provided safe spaces for Afghan women. They reduced the risk of exploitation, abuse, and child and forcedmarriage [10, 11]. In 2016, Afghan government data reported that girls deprived of education had their risk of entering childmarriage increased threefold compared to girls who completed at least secondary education [11]. As school closures becomemore rampant, Afghan women become deprived of their right to health and freedom from violence. The education ban is alsodenying them and the whole nation of better socioeconomic conditions, which are inextricably linked to improving nationalhealth status. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that in the last 12 months, the ban cost Afghanistan atleast US$500 million [10]. Furthermore, the ban also cuts the access of female healthcare students to education, exacerbatingthe shortage of female healthcare workers [7, 11]. This is detrimental to the health status of women, who are now unable toseek care from both male healthcare workers and the ever decreasing number of female health workers.The grim reality that is unfolding in Afghanistan has a striking resemblance with the reality of the Taliban’s first rule in the1990s, which also banned girls’ education. At that time, persistent conflicts, deprivation of education, and increasing povertyrates led to the collapse of Afghanistan’s health system and provided almost no access to health services for women. Thiswas partly due to the severe international sanctions imposed on the Taliban regime. The situation improved during the decadesof post-Taliban rule, which saw significant international support through financial aid and other development support [12].This highlights the importance of international and collective actions. Protecting human rights and improving living conditionsThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the originalwork is properly cited.© 2023 The Authors. Public Health Challenges published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Public Health Chall. 2023;2:e80. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/puh2 1 of 4https://doi.org/10.1002/puh2.802 of 4 EDITORIALshould be conducted at the global level due to its huge impact and moral reasons-to foster long lasting peace, humans must notleave others behind. Actions against the Afghan crisis, while not directly affecting other countries, are a testament to the beliefthat human rights should be universal, irrespective of one’s gender, belief, ethnicity, or nationality.As history repeats itself with the resurgence of the Taliban regime, the international community is once again imposingsanctions on the Taliban. Although these efforts may be successful at pressuring the Taliban government, their severe impact onthe ordinary civilians, including women, should also be considered. Coupled with the Taliban’s active deprivation of women’srights, sanction-related poverty has worsened women’s living conditions. In addition, the complexity of operating humanitarianefforts amidst international sanctions continues to limit access to basic services [13]. Balancing these political and humanitarianefforts should be the priority of the international community.Now more than ever, the world has become more connected. This calls for urgent actions and increased pressure fromthe international community to end the Taliban’s restrictions on the right of Afghan women and girls to quality education.Recognition, aid, and legitimization of the Taliban by the international community should be hinged upon visible proof ofinclusivity, respect for human rights, and people-centered governance, beginning with girls being able to access equitableand quality education across all levels. There is a need for dialogue with the Taliban on the importance of women and girlseducation for national growth and socioeconomic development, as well as strong condemnation of the current school ban. Thisengagement is best led by Islamic scholars, influential personalities, and religious leaders, who are well poised to advocatefor the prioritization of equal and quality education in the Islamic context. Although the current ban continues, internationaldevelopment organizations in Afghanistan should explore and provide alternative educational support to girls, which bring themat pace with the boys in school [14].Ending the Taliban’s war against women, such as the education ban, requires global actions. Everyone, including Afghanwomen, is entitled to the protection of their basic needs and rights. The actions of the global community will not only affect thecurrent generation but also Afghan generations to come.C O N F L I C T O F I N T E R E S T S TAT E M E N TAll authors are editorial board members of the journal. They were excluded and blinded from all stages of the peer review ofthis manuscript.F U N D I N G I N F O R M AT I O NThere is no funding for the development of this paper.D ATA AVA I L A B I L I T Y S TAT E M E N TNo database or primary data was used in writing the paper.E T H I C S S TAT E M E N TThere is no need for ethical approval.Shohra Qaderi1Adriana Viola Miranda2Goodness Ogeyi Odey3Shuaibu Saidu Musa4Leonard Thomas Sy Lim5Creuza Rachel Vicente6Joseph Christian Obnial7Aniekan Ekpenyong8Ahmed Said Abdou Elsayed Negida9Attaullah Ahmadi10Blaise Ntacyabukura11Brian Li Han Wong12,13Deborah Oluwaseun Shomuyiwa14Emery Manirambona15Isaac Olushola Ogunkola3Jaifred Christian F. Lopez16Julian M. A. Buban17Lila K. Chamlagai18Nelson Ashinedu Ukor19Paolo Miguel Manalang Vicerra20Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi21EDITORIAL 3 of 4Yasir Ahmed Mohammed Elhadi22Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno III23,24,251Maternal-Fetal Care Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, Boston, USA2Global Health Focus (GHF) Asia, Bandung, Indonesia3Department of Public Health, College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria4Department of Nursing Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria5College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines6Department of Social Medicine, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Espírito Santo, Vitória, Brazil7Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines8Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK9Department of Neurology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia, Richmond, USA10Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, Paris, France11Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden12Department of International Health, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University,Maastricht, The Netherlands13Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER), Brussels, Belgium14Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria15College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda16Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University, North Carolina, Durham, USA17College of Medicine, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines18School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA19Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria20Asian Demographic Research Institute, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China21Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK22Department of Public Health, Sudanese Medical Research Association, Khartoum, Sudan23Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK24Faculty of Management and Development Studies, University of the Philippines Open University, Los Baños, Laguna,Philippines25Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok, ThailandCorrespondenceAdriana Viola Miranda, Global Health Focus (GHF) Asia, Bandung, Indonesia.Email: adriana.miranda@ghfocus.orgO R C I DAdriana Viola Miranda https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8548-1592Goodness Ogeyi Odey https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2374-9909Shuaibu Saidu Musa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0138-3261Ahmed Said Abdou Elsayed Negida https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5363-6369Blaise Ntacyabukura https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4584-5686Brian Li Han Wong https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8709-5847Deborah Oluwaseun Shomuyiwa https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6665-9439Emery Manirambona https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0579-3607Isaac Olushola Ogunkola https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2220-1869Jaifred Christian F. Lopez https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8273-992XLila K. Chamlagai https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3613-2534Paolo Miguel Manalang Vicerra https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3076-7440Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2381-0984Yasir Ahmed Mohammed Elhadi https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3649-0374R E F E R E N C E S1. Yeung J. “What was Their Sacrifice for?”: Devastation for Female Afghan Students Stripped of Education. CNN. Published December 2022. AccessedJanuary 5, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/22/asia/taliban-bans-female-students-afghanistan-reaction-intl-hnk/index.html2. United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. United Nations. 1948. Accessed January 5, 2023. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2021/03/udhr.pdf4 of 4 EDITORIAL3. Lucero-Prisno DE, Essar MY, Ahmadi A, Lin X, Adebisi YA. Conflict and COVID-19: a double burden for Afghanistan’s healthcare system. ConflHealth. 2020;14(1):65. doi:10.1186/s13031-020-00312-x4. Quadri SA, Ahmadi A, Madadi S, Qaderi S, Lucero-Prisno DE 3rd. Taliban takeover of Afghanistan: what will be its impact on healthcare? Med ConflSurviv. 2022;38(2):109-115. doi:10.1080/13623699.2022.20727965. UN Women. Gender Alert No. 2: Women’s Rights in Afghanistan One Year After the Taliban Take-Over. UN Women - Headquarters. Published August15, 2022. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-08/Gender-alert-2-Womens-rights-in-Afghanistan-one-year-after-the-Taliban-take-over-en_0.pdf6. Afghanistan’s Health System is on the Brink of Collapse: Urgent Action is Needed. Universal Health Coverage Partnership. Universal Health CoveragePartnership. Published January 24, 2022. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://extranet.who.int/uhcpartnership/story/afghanistans-health-system-brink-collapse-urgent-action-needed7. Rabia J, Nancy G, Leonard R. The Maternal and Child Health Crisis in Afghanistan. 2022. 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Taliban's war on educating girls and women must end now: A call for global actions

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