Life changing education for girls in Pakistan
Education for girls in Pakistan is not universally accessible.
Education may be a fundamental human right, but girls in Pakistan face many barriers including poverty, cultural and religious beliefs and gender inequality that continue to keep them out of classrooms.
Growing up in a small village in rural Pakistan, school wasn’t an option for Sunia*.
“We never had the chance to study, and we didn’t even understand how important education is.”
Her lack of education limited her life choices and made her vulnerable. Unable to earn an income, Sunia has raised six children on the meagre living her husband makes as a labourer. She can’t read her household bills or the labels on her children’s medicines.
It’s been a struggle, but Sunia didn’t think life could be any different for her daughters. Like all mothers in her village, she only sent her sons to school.
“No girls in our village were educated,” she says.
But excluding girls from school comes at a high price. When a girl doesn’t go to school, she has limited ways to earn an income, she’s more likely to be married young, she has a narrow life path with fewer options and choices for her future, and she’s less likely to see the benefit of educating her own daughters.
But when Act for Peace’s local partner, Community World Service Asia (CWSA), came to Sunia’s village, she learned how education for girls brings incredible new opportunities to their lives.
After learning about the brighter future that education creates for girls, Sunia wanted to make a difference in her community.
Her first step was to enrol her youngest daughter, Anaya*, in school. CWSA then encouraged and supported Sunia to become a champion for girls’ education in her community.
“When my daughter began attending school, I organised several meetings with the women in my village. I encouraged them to send their daughters to school as well,” she said.
“I explained that through education, they could improve their lives. As a result, over the past two years, many girls have started going to school.”
Since CWSA’s education program began in 2009, they now support disadvantaged children to learn and thrive in 25 primary schools in Pakistan.
But the work of partners like CWSA is at risk.
CWSA is one of many of Act for Peace’s partners who have been significantly impacted by the devastating worldwide cuts to government humanitarian aid.
With your support, CWSA, can continue to break down the barriers and open the door to opportunity for generations to come.
Please act for peace by giving a tax-deductible gift so girls like Anaya can go to school and hope for brighter future.
Visit the Act for Peace website to learn more or make a donation
*names changed for privacy