Advocating for Girls’ Education in Government-Sanctioned Messages Delivered through Mosques in Afghanistan

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Wednesday IV)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Religious influence and girls’ education: perspective from Malala fund partners

Proposal

Zarmina Satary has 16 years of experience as a defender and social activist for women’s rights. She is the managing director of Watch on Basic Rights Afghanistan Organization (WBRAO) and leads Movement57, a national initiative promoting women’s rights and the elimination of violence against women. She is also a board member of the Movement for Support of Quality Education in Afghanistan.

In 2018, Malala Fund selected Zarmina as a Gulmakai Champion. With her Gulmakai Network grant, Zarmina’s organisation works with the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs to develop and distribute materials that promote girls’ education.


Generally there is no limitation against education for women in Islam according to the Holy Quran. The Afghanistan government accordingly supports girls’ education, and there are schools and educational systems for both boys and girls in under the Ministry of Education (MoE).

However, there are challenges and cultural barriers against girls’ education in Afghanistan: families who have a lack of knowledge, especially of Islamic studies and laws, usually stand against their girls and do not let them to go out of the home for an education. As an example, in most of provinces of Afghanistan the girls cannot go to school or cannot continue their education due to local barriers, because education for young girls in remote areas is not well accepted and is considered as a negative point for girls.

The other challenge is lack of safety for girls and the distance between their homes and schools. These types of issues result in early marriages and girls dropping out from school. Moreover, since Afghanistan is facing security challenges from armed opposition groups, the government gives top priority to peace and other political agendas, and education is often overlooked.

In order to address these challenges, the role of Islamic scholars is very important. Therefore, WBRAO, in close coordination with Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs (MoHRA) of Afghanistan, works on preparation and dissemination of Islamic messages through registered mosques to include in Friday addresses. Moreover, WBRAO plans to organize press conferences, national conferences, and advocacy meetings with policy makers and issues press releases and position papers in coordination with MoHRA.

WBRAO collaborates with the government to develop religious content on themes with a bearing on girls’ education. Each theme and topic will be accredited by the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs and will be disseminated to registered mosques to include in Friday addresses, as well as printed and shared with the mosque. The messages will be based on the teachings of Islam in light of Quranic verses and hadiths. The primary target of those addresses is men who are parents, elder brothers, family, village and community chiefs of girls, though the messages will reach to wider social and population groups.

Author

• Zarmina Satary, Malala Fund