New and expanded grants are funding Afghan-led efforts to provide alternative learning for girls and dismantle gender apartheid.
As girls in Afghanistan face a fourth year without access to secondary school, Malala Fund has invested $3.26 million* in grants to meet urgent education needs and push for long-term justice for girls and women by amplifying their resistance, investing in Afghan leaders and building diverse coalitions.
“We are backing Afghan girls and women who refuse to be erased — who are leading the global fight to end gender apartheid through classrooms, courtrooms and coalitions,” said Sahar Halaimzai, Senior Director of Malala Fund’s Afghanistan Initiative. “Our partners are building power in the face of unimaginable repression. This is a movement for liberation and we are standing with it every step of the way.”
New grantee partners are reaching more than 10,000 girls inside Afghanistan with online and in-person education and building legal and political momentum to codify gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.
Legal recognition would not only help to hold the Taliban accountable, it would shape how governments deliver aid, engage diplomatically and protect refugees — especially critical as Iran and Pakistan deport thousands of girls and women back to Afghanistan.
This announcement follows the launch of Malala Fund’s new five-year strategy to distribute $50 million in grants globally to secure rights and resources for girls' education, amid declining foreign aid and backlash against gender equality. The Afghanistan grants reflect the organisation’s focus on confronting the world’s most egregious violation of the right to education and supporting frontline organisations protecting girls’ access to learning in crisis situations.
Read more about our new partners’ work below:
Alternative education grants
Education Bridge for Afghanistan is providing 10,000 girls access to comprehensive secondary education through pre-recorded and live online classes. In addition to the pre-Taliban national curriculum, the programme offers digital literacy skills, psychosocial support, mentorship and globally recognised qualifications to support girls’ transition to higher education.
Note: An additional partner providing alternative education has chosen to remain anonymous.
Gender apartheid advocacy grants
Afghans for a Better Tomorrow is training, organising and supporting activists, legal experts, civil society organisations and policymakers on the frontlines of the fight against gender apartheid — strengthening their work to ensure U.N. member states and the international community adopt the legal gender apartheid framework. They are engaging key stakeholders, decision-makers and the general public to hold the Taliban accountable.
Centre for Dialogue and Progress-Geneva is working to hold the perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses in Afghanistan legally accountable. They advocate for the establishment of an independent investigative mechanism, support Afghan women’s rights activists, help human rights defenders access the U.N. and technically assist Afghanistan’s Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) reporting and review process.
Afghanistan Accountability Collective centres the leadership of women from Afghanistan and coordinates global advocacy in the movement to recognise, codify and end gender apartheid under international law. The collective, in partnership with the End Gender Apartheid Campaign, is also pursuing complementary accountability pathways to advance justice and policy changes for girls and women living in Afghanistan and in exile.
Defenders of Equality, Freedom and Advancement for Women (DEFAW) is advocating for the legal recognition of gender apartheid, mobilising support for Afghan women’s rights and holding the Taliban accountable for education and human rights violations. They are documenting Afghan girls and women’s personal stories and amplifying their voices through media to raise global awareness of gender apartheid.
Rawadari advances efforts to hold the Taliban accountable for human rights abuses through formal, international mechanisms and people-centered justice initiatives like the People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan. This victim-led, non-judicial forum will collect evidence, assess whether human rights violations constitute gender persecution and issue findings. The Afghan human rights community can use the findings to support international investigative mechanisms, advocate to policymakers and mobilise efforts focused on accountability and amplifying survivors’ demand for justice.
Rukhshana Media is building their capacity to report on issues affecting Afghan girls and women, especially gender apartheid, through their online news service. This includes training for their female reporters and making their stories available in Farsi, Pashto and English. They are also aiming to grow their global audience including decision-makers and human rights defenders, and enable their readers to engage in advocacy for positive change.
Stanford University’s Program in Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies hosted a two-day symposium in April 2025 to bring together Afghan and international legal scholars and activists to deepen academic and legal understanding of gender apartheid. They aimed to address policymakers and global actors’ concerns about the implications of legally recognising gender apartheid on humanitarian aid, cultural relativism and religious sensitivities.
ArtLords, a global collective of artivists, has launched the "I Stand With You" campaign to spotlight the plight of Afghan women under Taliban rule. Through evocative murals, painting meditation sessions and art installations, this initiative is aiming to support female artists in Afghanistan, raise global awareness about gender apartheid and advocate for women's rights.
Women and Children Research and Advocacy Network is strengthening coordination among women leaders and activists in Canada and Afghanistan for joint advocacy on the codification of gender apartheid in international law. They are mobilising the Canadian government, a key target country to secure legal recognition, to champion Afghan girls and women’s rights, and advocating to other U.N. member states.
