We listen closely to teachers, families, and students and we make the choice to stay and help, even when so many other organizations have left, to show Afghan women that they are not forgotten.
In Afghanistan, girls like Nazanin and Nasima are told they don’ t belong in school. The fear, the heartache, the restrictions feel inhumane, but the silence around them is worse. Still, they choose courage. They reach, instinctively and relentlessly, for a return to normalcy, to learning, to opportunity, to dreams of the future. For many, education up to grade six is not a limit but a lifeline. Their fight is not just for themselves, but for a shared liberation. Afghanistan is not a lost cause; it’ s a call to stand on the right side of history.
If we stop caring and acting, we unwittingly help the oppressors win. But if those young girls, stripped of all freedoms, can hold onto hope, then what excuse do we have to not be part of the resistance?
At CAI, our mission and vision are built upon decades of community-centered, community-informed work and trust-building. In a time when formal government systems have collapsed for Afghan girls, sustainability means something different. It means a continued, steady, dedicated presence. It means adapting our programs, again and again, to keep education alive.
We’ ve reimagined classrooms, leaned on the local expertise of our Afghan partners, and found ways to protect learning spaces with the advent of every new restriction. We listen closely to teachers, families, and students and we make the choice to stay and help, even when so many other organizations have left, to show Afghan women that they are not forgotten. Not by us. Not by you. Not by anyone who believes in justice and the transformative power of education..
1 https:// www. unwomen. org / en / news-stories / press-release / 2025 / 06 / nearly-eight-out-of-10-young-afghan-women-are-excluded-fromeducation-jobs-and-training
2 https:// www. unesco. org / en / articles / unesco-gives-voice-afghangirls-and-women-and-calls-their-rights-be-restored
3 https:// www. unwomen. org / en / news-stories / press-release / 2025 / 06 / nearly-eight-out-of-10-young-afghan-women-are-excluded-fromeducation-jobs-and-training
4 https:// www. hrw. org / world-report / 2025 / country-chapters / afghanistan
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