Standing Up by Walking Out: Calgary Girls Charter School Supports Girls’ Education in Afghanistan
Over this past school year, students from the Social Impact Lab at the Calgary Girls Charter School (CGCS) in Calgary, Alberta have partnered with CW4WAfghan (Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan) to raise awareness and advocate for girls’ education in Afghanistan. Since August of 2021, access to education for women and girls beyond grade 6 has been restricted and/or banned in many provinces under renewed Taliban rule.
Launched in conjunction with the International Day of the Girl, this multifaceted campaign began with a school walk out to support the “I’m Walking Out Because They Can’t Walk In” global initiative. The key messages of the campaign were that limiting girls’ access to education puts all Afghans at risk, that Afghan girls are powerful and self-motivated changemakers, and that speaking out and persistent global public pressure is needed to demand that the Taliban, at a minimum, reverse their ban and allow girls of all ages to freely access education. The CGSC walkout is currently featured on the Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan Youth Action webpage.
CGCS students continued to raise awareness and speak out using both social media and a letter writing campaign. Letters were sent to every level of government, including the Canadian Prime Minister and the Secretary for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as well as Oprah and Malala, and even Queen Elizabeth. With the support of CW4WAfghan, students corresponded with Afghan girls in Kabul who are still unable to attend school.
At the local level, students have been working to welcome Afghan refugees recently arrived in Calgary. Students assembled education packages that included various school supplies and “Welcome to Canada” cards for children and further, held a winter clothing drive with community partners, the Women in Need Society, for newly arrived refugee families.
In an effort to share and inspire others to defend girls’ right to education in Afghanistan, the Social Impact Lab students presented their work to national and international audiences at the BCCIC Conference for Solidarity With Afghan Schools Conference, and the “Breaking Barriers to Education: In Calgary and Beyond Our Borders” speaker series hosted by the Calgary Chapter of CW4WAfghan where students participated on a panel discussion and presented on their advocacy work to date.
Students from the Calgary Girls Charter School hope to inspire other girls’ schools to join the global solidarity movement to support the rights of Afghan women and girls and their right to an education. In response to the increased global pressure, the Taliban has recently announced plans to reinstate girls’ education programs in the coming months. Continuing to raise our voices in solidarity with Afghan women is more important than ever. Schools looking to undertake this important work are encouraged to visit https://cw4wafghan.ca/advocatenow/ or email community@cw4wafghan.ca to find a wealth of advocacy resources including an advocacy toolkit specific to planning effective advocacy initiatives around this timely issue.