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Responding to Afghanistan’s Women’s Rights Crisis: Supporting the Right to Education for Afghan Girls and Women
February 9, 2023 @ 9:00 am UTC+0
A joint event with Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan and Alberta Council for Global Cooperation
Event summary
The 2023 IDW theme of Go for the Goals comes at a time when progress on Goal 5, gender equality, is under threat globally. Nowhere is this more dramatic or urgent than for the people of Afghanistan, where significant progress on gender equality and the rights of women and girls has been virtually erased in a matter of months, after the Taliban gained control of the country by force in August 2021. Human Rights Watch has called the situation in Afghanistan “the most serious women’s rights crisis in the world today’, as women and girls are barred from school, employment and movement outside their homes, and erased from public life. In the most recent wave of repression, the Taliban has enacted a total ban on university for women and closed primary and community schools to girls of all ages. Female students are now barred from all forms of education at every level. But there are actions the global community can undertake to ensure Afghan women and girls continue to learn and realize their full potential.
This event will bring together Afghan women’s rights activists who have recently resettled to Alberta, to share their advocacy efforts. CW4WAfghan will share details of their innovative approach to creating education access for adolescent girls, and recommendations for how Canada and other donor countries can respond. Participants will have the opportunity to hear firsthand about the experiences of women and girls inside Afghanistan, learn practical ways they can advocate for the human right to education for Afghan women and girls, and receive tools to support their advocacy.
Goals of the event
This session aims to:
- Inform Albertans and all Canadians about the human rights crisis in Afghanistan, and the particular ways it is impacting women and girls
- Share what Alberta-based activists and organizations are doing to respond to the crisis
- Provide opportunities for Albertans and all Canadians to raise their voices to advocate for Afghan women and girls
- Share practical advocacy actions and tools
