Afghan girls’ voices for education echo loudly through new global campaign

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), a UN fund that ensures children can continue learning during emergencies and protracted crises, launched a campaign on Tuesday to elevate the voices of young Afghan girls deprived of their basic right to education.

#AfghanGirlsVoices comes exactly two years after the Islamic Emirate regained control in Afghanistan and will continue until September 18, which marks two years of when schools officially closed for girls above Grade 6.

The campaign was developed in collaboration with ECW Global Champion Somaya Faruqi, former captain of the Afghan Girls’ Robotic Team, with artwork by a young Afghan female artist.

It features a series of testimonies from Afghan girls whose lives have been impacted by the education ban.

Faruqi said: “The situation is taking an immense toll on girl’s mental health and rates of suicide for girls has gone up in the last two years. It’s more urgent than ever to act now, and I hope that next year, we celebrate their freedom rather than mark their oppression.”

A recent report by UN experts said the condition of women and girls in Afghanistan is the “worst globally”. The systematic curtailment of their human rights, coupled with the profound bias they face under the Islamic Emirate could potentially qualify as “gender apartheid” and “gender persecution,” the report said.

“It is hard to think of anyone further left behind than the girls in Afghanistan who are being denied their most basic human rights, including their right to education, based solely on their gender,” said ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif.

“We will continue to steadfastly advocate for the full resumption of their right to education in Afghanistan, and to work with our partners to deliver crucial learning opportunities to Afghan children through the community-based education programmes we support,” she added.