Today's Edition
SARA AL ZAABI (ABU DHABI)
Zarqa Yaftali believes no girl in Afghanistan should be denied the right to learn – and it has been her lifelong mission to defend that right.
Yaftali, a leading Afghan advocate for women’s education, is among those who received this year’s Zayed Award for Human Fraternity. She is the Director of the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation, an organisation that has been operating since 2003 across several provinces in Afghanistan.
Through her work and leadership, more than 100,000 people in Afghanistan and beyond have benefitted from educational resources that helped them learn; psychosocial support that helped them heal; and community services that helped them see hope.
Yaftali was also instrumental in establishing more than a hundred schools for thousands of girls in regions affected by conflict.
Speaking to Aletihad, she said her foundation continues to support women and children. “In this critical time, we are providing different kinds of services to women and children in Afghanistan.”
Among the foundation’s key initiatives is the Kabul Online School, which provides alternative education to girls who are unable to go to school. It currently serves students from Grades 7 to 12.
Beyond primary education, Yaftali also highlighted capacity-building efforts for young women who dream of pursuing law, journalism, medicine and political science. “We want to invest in them,” the advocate said.
Besides her organisation, Yaftali also founded the Canada-based Women and Children Legal Research and Advocacy Network, which works with the international community, the Canadian government, and United Nations bodies.
“We are doing advocacy work with United Nations member states and the Security Council about the situation of women in Afghanistan and how we can [form] policies and programmes, especially for Afghan women,” she said.
Despite challenges, Yaftali said hope remains rooted in Afghan women themselves.
“The only thing we are hopeful for is the courage and resilience of Afghan women,” she said.
Yaftali dedicates her Zayed Award to Afghan women who persevere with courage against the odds.
At a time when many feel forgotten, she said the message of the award is clear: “It shows that the world has not forgotten Afghan women,” she said.
