AEWA introduces education directory for Afghan women barred from universities

AEWA introduces education directory for Afghan women barred from universities
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The Alliance for the Education of Women in Afghanistan (AEWA) has launched a public directory aimed at helping them find alternative learning opportunities, three years after the Taliban barred women from higher education.

According to Khaama Press, the Alliance for the Education of Women in Afghanistan said the tool allows women and girls to identify and directly connect with independent education providers offering programs across a wide range of subjects and educational levels, including online and limited face-to-face options.

Taliban closed universities to women in December 2022, a move that drew widespread international condemnation and sharply curtailed educational prospects for millions of Afghan women and girls.

Founded in 2022, the Alliance for the Education of Women in Afghanistan is a global network of organisations working to safeguard and expand access to quality education for women and girls amid crisis conditions.

The directory is the Alliance’s first public listing of its members and complements earlier resources, including a crowdsourced database of higher education opportunities and a set of Learning Quality Standards designed to promote accountability, ethical operations and minimum benchmarks for educational quality.

The Alliance said it brings together more than 100 organisations, including universities, non-governmental organisations, virtual schools, community groups and vocational training providers, many of them led by Afghans. It estimates that its members collectively reach at least 900,000 women and girls.

Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women’s rights, barring them from secondary and higher education, most employment and many public spaces, leaving informal and alternative education pathways as one of the few remaining options for Afghan women and girls.