KABUL: The Malala Fund has announced an additional commitment of over $3 million to support alternative educational programs in Afghanistan and to advocate for the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity at the international level. In a statement released on Wednesday, the Fund noted that part of this program will provide online education for over 10,000 Afghan girls in higher secondary classes, equipping them with internationally recognized academic credentials for further studies. Another portion of the funding is designated for organizations working on legal accountability for the Taliban regarding the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity. According to Sahar Halimzai, head of the Malala Fund’s Afghanistan branch, they support women and girls who refuse to be erased from the public sphere. “They stand on the front lines of freedom and justice, and the Malala Fund stands with them.” The Malala Fund emphasized that this investment aims to amplify the voices of Afghan girls globally and hold the Taliban accountable for depriving women of education. It is worth noting that Malala Yousafzai, a prominent advocate for girls’ education and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is the founder of the Malala Fund. She has repeatedly supported Afghan girls’ education and called for the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity. In March of this year, UNICEF reported that with the start of the new academic year, an additional 400,000 Afghan girls have been barred from middle school, raising the total number of girls denied education in Afghanistan to 2.2 million. UNICEF previously warned that if the ban continues until 2030, four million girls could be excluded from school.
