Pashtana Durrani (born 1997) is an Afghan human rights activist focused on girls' and women's access to education. [1][2]
Early life
Durrani's family fled Afghanistan in the late 1990s due to the country's civil war and the presence of the Taliban.[2] Durrani was born in a refugee camp near Quetta, Pakistan.[2][3] Her family valued education; their motto was "You can go hungry, but not without a day of learning”.[4] In their Pakistani refugee camp, her parents ran a girls' school out of their home starting in 2001, and her aunts convinced reluctant families to educate their daughters.[4]
In 2016, Durrani moved back to Kandahar, Afghanistan with her family.[4] Durrani's father died when she was 21, forcing her to become the provider for her family.[5] At that point, her tribe also elected her as khan, a role she kept until her younger brother turned 18, at which point she passed the title to him.[6]
Activism
In 2018, Durrani founded LEARN Afghanistan, an NGO which focuses on providing education to Afghan children and women.[2][4] At the time of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the organization was running 18 digital schools in southern Afghanistan,[2] serving around 7,000 students.[7] It had trained more than 80 teachers in digital literacy.[citation needed] The organization also focuses on girls’ health and menstrual hygiene management.[citation needed] Following the fall of Kabul in August 2021, Durrani went into hiding.[4] LEARN Afghanistan resumed operations, although covertly, within a month of the takeover.[4]
Durrani left Afghanistan in October 2021 following the Taliban takeover.[8] At the time, she had been studying political science at the American University of Afghanistan.[1] She has been working as a visiting fellow at Wellesley College since November 2021, and has been studying how to improve the distribution of humanitarian aid and mitigate financial corruption.[1]
In 2022, Durrani published a memoir under the title Last to Eat, Last to Learn.[5][9]
By August 2024, LEARN was serving about 661 students, with in-person covert schools in Bamyan, Daykundi, Helmand, Herat and Kandahar.[10] Durrani has continued to return, undercover, to Afghanistan to visit her teachers and students.[11] By December 2024, the organization had returned to digital classes after repeated harassment from Taliban authorities.[12]
Awards and recognition
Global Youth Representative, Amnesty International (2017–2019)[citation needed]