Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says women are the biggest victims of the ongoing war in Afghanistan, which he says has prevented millions of girls and women from getting an education.
"The number of women deprived of literacy in Afghanistan is three times more than men and the reason behind this is the imposed war that we are facing," Ghani said on May 15 at a symposium called Afghan Women: Messengers of Peace.
The three-day gathering is being hosted by Afghan first lady Rula Ghani.
In a statement, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed hope that the government will achieve its goal of increasing the proportion of women in government institutions to 30 percent by 2020.
According to the Education Ministry, most of the estimated 3.5 million children who do not attend school are girls.
Afghanistan’s female literacy rate is among the lowest in the word at around 17 percent, according to a 2015 UNESCO report.