UNESCO has designated 2023 as International Day of Education for Afghan girls and women

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has decided to dedicate the International Day of Education (January 24) in 2023 to Afghan girls and women. UNESCO will renew its call to immediately restore their fundamental right to education during an event at the UN headquarters.

On the occasion of the International Day of Education, on 24 January, UNESCO is hosting an event at the United Nations in New York, with the contribution of the UN Secretary-General, the President of the UN General Assembly, as well as UNESCO’s Director-General. The first-panel discussion will be devoted to the education of girls and women in Afghanistan.

Currently, 2.5 million (80%) of school-aged Afghan girls and young women are not in school, with 1.2 million being denied access to secondary schools and universities as a result of the de facto authorities’ decision. Since August 2021, UNESCO has adapted its interventions to support educational continuity in difficult circumstances.

A UNESCO advocacy campaign reached over 20 million Afghans to increase public awareness of the right to education for youth and adults, especially adolescent girls and women. UNESCO has also partnered with NGOs on the ground, providing content and funding to deploy a community-based literacy campaign that targeted 25,000 young people and adults in rural areas, including mostly adolescent girls above the age of 15 and women.

UNESCO is also working to provide distance education through Afghan media outlets, particularly radio stations, in order to reach as many girls and women as possible. Radio reaches more than two-thirds of the population and has the advantage of being directly available in homes.

UNESCO is assisting them in the production of conflict-sensitive, humanitarian, health, and educational public interest content, with the goal of reaching at least six million Afghans, with a particular emphasis on women and girls, thanks to many donors. This includes direct funding for a women-led station that will produce over 200 hours of educational content per month for girls and women, which will be broadcast to at least eight provinces across the country by 2023.