Project #129 | Empowering Girls in Afghanistan
Our partnership with Sahar
Afghan girls and their families are demanding greater access to education in their war-torn country. Since the removal of the Taliban, millions of children have entered the school system—many for the first time. However, girls are still substantially under-represented among students flooding the Afghanistan education system. This is largely due to early marriage practices; according to recent data from the UN Population Fund, nearly 57% of girls in Afghanistan are married before the legal age of 16. Girls’ schools also continue to be targeted by violent extremists, and there continues to be a stigma against girls’ education in the country where the Taliban very recently outlawed education for girls.
We partnered with Sahar to work towards closing the gender gap and get more girls in school by improving Afghan school capacity, training teachers, improving digital literacy, and implementing early marriage prevention programs. Our partnership supported Sahar’s Early Marriage Prevention Program, an initiative aimed at reducing early marriage rates for girls in Afghanistan through education. Their interventions focused on increasing knowledge and awareness of legal rights of girls and empowering girls to take an active role in decisions related to their education. Additionally, Sahar provided information sessions on physical health and hygiene, mental health and trauma, sexual harassment, human rights, and the importance of education.
Our collective impact
Girls Enrolled in School
Shella is 16 years old and participant of Sahar’s Early Marriage Prevention Program. She says: “I got a lot of motivation from this program, which can change my life for a better future. I realized that as a woman I can be strong and capable. I am poor, but I am priceless. I should love myself. I am proud of being a woman. Being a woman is not shameful. I learned from the program that I should struggle against sexual discrimination. At the end of the program I felt a lot of positive changes in myself. It also gave me a lot of motivation. The most important issue for me was psychological health, because I was a depressed person. I felt exhausted and slept so much. When I participated in the psychological health session, the teachers explained to me the signs of depression. After I was informed about ways to overcome this problem in my program, I was able to focus on my psychological health and work towards overcoming depression. Finally, I can say that the program was outstanding and brought about the best changes in my life. It helped me become a healthy and happy person.”
Thank you for making this possible!
Our movement is grassroots, to us that not only means the work on the ground is led by local leaders with the support of the community, but it also means that we raise the funds for our projects through everyday donors just like you. In addition to all the donors that gave $25, $100, or $250 and the campaigners that ran a race or donated their birthday to raise funds, we also want to thank our generous business, school, and faith sponsors who believed in our work and joined the movement.
If you want to support future projects like this you can make a donation to our girls’ empowerment fund.