Celebrating International Day of the Girl

Today is #InternationalDayoftheGirl—a day to recognize the incredible potential and capacity of girls. As an organization founded and led by women, one of our main goals is to implement projects in Afghanistan and for Afghan refugees that protect and empower women and girls to be financially and socially independent despite the unjust and highly restrictive limitations imposed on their freedom and rights.

International Day of the Girl focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face while promoting girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their basic human rights. This awareness is especially necessary in Afghanistan’s current political climate, where girls have been forcibly deprived of their right to education past the sixth grade and most forms of employment, cannot travel long distances without a male chaperone, and cannot visit public spaces of social enrichment. Through these restrictions, the de-facto government seeks to remove women from public life entirely. The emotional and psychological toll is devastating and immeasurable.

Today on International Day of the Girl, and every day for the past 2 years, the girls of Afghanistan yearn for their right to receive an education. In the spirit of this year’s theme, “Invest in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-being,” we encourage you to call on your government to exert pressure to uphold human rights in Afghanistan by reinstating girls’ regular school education.

What is happening to girls in Afghanistan is an egregious violation of human rights. Every girl has the right to be educated, to be safe, and to determine her own destiny. #LetAfghanGirlsLearn

Click here for more information on how to donate to projects aimed at the empowerment, protection, mental health, and education of Afghan girls and women.