A nation is nothing without the power of its youth, and Afghanistan is no exception. Young Afghan women and girls across the country and the world are finding their voices and coming together to uplift each other and create change.
Youth Activism and Education in Afghanistan
With the advent of new youth leadership in Afghanistan, young people can learn immensely from the older generation, which holds the wisdom and experience of activists advocating for the changes they want. Although there still remain immense challenges for the youth leadership, the young generation of Afghanistan has been making impressive progress, particularly in areas such as gender equality, human rights, women’s rights, and girls’ rights to education.
This essay will discuss the significant changes young people in Afghanistan have been making in terms of gender equality and social justice, as well as the barriers they face. Forming new leadership is particularly challenging for Afghanistan’s youth, given the country’s hierarchical society. However, that is changing. Growing up in a country of hierarchy and being raised to always listen to the elders’ advice is difficult — children are taught to not have their own independent thoughts under strict Afghan culture and traditions. Both tradition and culture are important factors in forming young minds. Since young people are seen and treated as inexperienced, they feel as though their opinions and ideas won’t matter as adults. Especially if the young person is a girl.
Afghan families value men’s and boys’ opinions. They are day-to-day decision makers, treated as a part of the family business and therefore the future of the family. In the Afghan culture, the men in the family are primarily in charge of all leadership.
Afghan youth are the inheritors of the country and the leaders of the next generation, whose voices matter more than ever in making Afghanistan better and more peaceful. To ensure youth are included in any form of decision-making that affects their future, their voices and ideas must be heard.
Bahara’s leadership in fighting for her right to education as an Afghan girl is one example of millions in Afghanistan. As a teenager, being told that her right to education was taken away from her solely because of her gender was difficult. She believed in the transformative power of education as the pathway to building a better life. Being a victim of gender inequality, she had to stand up for her right to education. Even after the Taliban came to power, inspired by women leaders in my country like Sima Samar, Bahara continued pursuing education and participated in in-person secret classes and alternative learning programs. Dr. Sima Samar is a well-known Human Rights activist, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and a household name in Afghanistan for social justice. Dr. Sama has dedicated her entire life to gender equality in Afghanistan.
Every time Bahara left the house, she was filled with uncertainty about whether she would ever return. However, she risked her safety nonetheless to get an education because she firmly believed that education was the key to overcoming inequalities in Afghanistan. As a young advocate and leader, she faced many uncertainties and stereotypes that made her doubt whether her advocacy would help her achieve her goals. The stereotypes about girls’ education and youth leadership go back for years; Bahara has watched them first-hand impact people in my community. Before 2021, Bahara’s friends were not allowed by their families to attend group activities at school because they were perceived as incapable and incompetent.
Bahara has also grown up watching her friends being dragged out of school in grade VI because their families believed that girls do not have the right to education. These injustices indicate that Talibanism is a mindset that prohibits youth, especially girls, from living an equal, just life. In the alternative learning programs we provided, we struggled a lot trying to get girls to participate because their parents did not allow participation. These stigmas persist today, and if left unaddressed, they will continue to proliferate, creating a broken leadership model. Increasingly, families will follow the lead and take away the fundamental rights of their youth, especially girls.
Young people should not only be talked about but talked with, because young people have the ability and capacity to lead the way, criticize what is unjust, and contribute to making a positive change in their communities. While in some parts of the world the power of young people’s opinions is overlooked due to a lack of “sufficient” experience in activism, the truth is that young people can utilize and gain support from older generations of activists and take part in forming the decisions that affect their future directly.
Youth Activism Worldwide
There are many concrete examples of youth groups that have been successful in their activism. Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg have been instrumental in shaping the future for youth, advocating for girls’ education and climate justice, respectively, to create a just society globally. Young people should be given more leadership roles; their presence in the decision-making rooms is crucial. During Bahara’s internship at Victoria City Hall in British Columbia, Canada, she has had the opportunity to engage in social work, where women like Mayor Mariano Alto are working to bring about change in the city. Inspired by leaders like her, Bahara is motivated to continue her work and fight for girls’ right to education.
The argument for the power of youth activism is backed up by the World Economic Forum. The 2025 Global Shapers Impact Report highlights the thousands of young people in the world who have led projects for a cause and made meaningful changes, both locally and globally. The report shows that although there are social stigmas tied to young people’s interest and engagement in social justice and political debates, 4,000 young people between the ages of 18 and 30 across 140 countries have demonstrated that they firmly believe they can make the world a better place.[1] This report highlights the significant impact young people can have on the world when given the opportunities and support. Therefore, more young people should be present in decision-making rooms, their voices should be heard, they must be aware of the global crises, and they must be equipped with access to the tools to help make a difference.
Engaging a Larger Pool of Youth Activists
According to the UNESCO data published in 2024, 1.4 million girls in Afghanistan are out of school.[2] This number represents millions of dreams that are held back, voices that are deliberately silenced, and young people who are given absolutely no right to contribute to a change for their future. These purposeful inequalities are devastating for the future of the country. These are brutal and unjust government practices that threaten humanity. The world and human rights organizations must not stay silent. People of Afghanistan are tired of war, and the youth must be involved in making the decisions that impact their future. If the global mission of UNESCO is to achieve Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the contemporary developments in Afghanistan are heading in the opposite direction.
As a young girl who grew up in the patriarchal country of Afghanistan, Bahara believed in the power of women and advocacy. She advocated for herself and her right to education. Bahara participated in alternative learning programs such as English, life skills and empowerment classes, which gave her the confidence to share my knowledge with those who did not have the opportunities she had. Bahara participated in youth-led programs and started her own projects supporting and empowering young people, especially young girls. We provided alternative learning programs such as English, mental health classes, and life skills empowerment classes. Bahara has connected with youth from Afghanistan who are enthusiastic to bring a positive impact to their country.
Now, as an ambassador for Women Leaders of Tomorrow, Bahara works with six other young high school scholars. Seeing their enthusiasm and energy to bring a positive change makes Bahara believe that youth do have the power to make a difference when they are given the opportunity. It makes her realize how truly devastating the lack of leadership opportunities in Afghanistan is for the youth. Lack of leadership opportunities for youth means a lack of new, fresh ideas.
The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Shapers Impact Report shows 83% of young people believe the world is full of opportunities, and 74% feel they have the power to take action on the issues and causes that matter to them. Additionally, 68% of young people show a willingness for greater leadership roles and 50% of young people feel empowered to impact decision-making.[3] These statistics show the unique optimism and keen awareness among youth regarding global challenges.
In the face of all the adversities faced in Afghanistan, young Afghan girls and boys living in the country and in exile have created movements, community based programs, online schools, and initiatives to challenge these norms and fight against the injustices that not only exclude young people from leadership positions but also threaten the future of the country. If the youth are not given the opportunity and the respect for being competent and capable, what will be their identity in the future? Who will they become as adults?
Social Media as a Viable Tool for Activism, Journalism, and Storytelling
Social media is an essential and necessary tool for activism, journalism, and storytelling. This is mainly the case in Afghanistan. Since the ordinary people of Afghanistan got access to the internet and social media in early 2003 and 2004, activism boomed.
At Women Leaders of Tomorrow, social media is used to raise awareness about the dire situation of Afghan women and girls under the Taliban’s gender apartheid through Afghanistan Learns Online, ALO. This program is a teaching and learning platform, as an alternative to schools for a large population of female learners in Afghanistan. The Afghan central government collapsed in mid-August 2021, the Taliban returned, and as soon as they took power, they banned education for women and girls above third and sixth grade.
The Taliban believe that girls don’t need an education because they are born to marry at a young age, bear children at home, and become obedient wives.
Afghanistan Learns Online plays a vital role in harnessing knowledge and learning in Afghanistan. Otherwise, education, knowledge, learning, freedom of thought, and expression will collapse along with the republican government.
The ALO classes are successful. The girls in Afghanistan have shown great satisfaction because it is practical, it is something that they can do at home, and at a very low cost. Each student attends classes on her Android phone from Afghanistan. They listen to the lectures, take notes, and complete her assignment. The teachers are in Canada and in central Aisa. The Internet has been used to deliver classes to girls who lack access to education. In addition to that, numerous women’s rights campaigns stormed social media. To name a few, #WalkwithAfghanwomen #MyRedLine #LetHerLearn and so on.
Journalists also benefit from it greatly, because they can access the information quickly and publish the stories they want, regardless of his or her geographical location. In the 1990s when the Taliban ruled for the first time in Afghanistan, the country was a dark hole, isolated from the rest of the world. Only a few very brave journalists from major news channels, such as CNN, BBC, ABC, and others travelled to Afghanistan and recorded the Taliban’s brutal regime on video tapes. Without their recordings and reports, people outside of Afghanistan didn’t and wouldn’t know what was happening there — some of the worst human rights violations in history. But now, what the Taliban do gets reported on social media immediately. People around the world get the news instantly from Afghanistan.
Furthermore, the internet and social media are an escape from the Taliban’s ultimate authoritarian regime. It is freedom. You can have freedom of thought and expression. The girls write boldly about their situation on the internet. They advocate for themselves and connect with the rest of the world. This is how they contact Women Leaders of Tomorrow, and secure life changing opportunities for themselves.
Similarly, storytelling has grown in popularity on the internet because of its immediate global audience. According to Global Social Media Statistics, 5.31 billion people worldwide used social media at the start of 2025, making up 64.7% of the world population.[4] This indicates that social media can be a viable tool to reach many people to raise awareness about global challenges, share stories, and advocate for a cause. It is specifically vital when face-to-face activism or storytelling is restricted or unsafe. A vivid example of that is contemporary online activism and storytelling in Afghanistan. Because the Taliban regime has limited and prohibited in person social activities, as an alternative, many activists and social advocates are utilizing online tools and social media platforms to raise awareness about the current inequalities in Afghanistan, share narratives and stories, and continue to advocate for equality and inclusivity.
While online activism can be an alternative way to advocate for a cause, share narratives, and raise awareness, it also comes with risks and challenges. One of the challenges that young people face in activism with social media is online safety and privacy. This is a topic that is often not discussed, but online risk management is crucial. Young people can use social media in many viable ways, such as sharing awareness about a cause they care about, telling their stories, and creating online programs.
Image Credit: USAID Afghanistan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
[1] Pierce, N., & World Economic Forum. (2025, January 21). Why investing in young people has never been more important. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/01/why-investing-in-young-people-has-never-been-more-important/
[2] UNESCO. (2024, August 15). Afghanistan: 1.4 million girls still banned from school by de facto authorities. Unesco.org; UNESCO. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/afghanistan-14-million-girls-still-banned-school-de-facto-authorities
[3] Global Shapers Impact Report: Engaging Young People in Decision-Making: Enabling Active Citizenship 2025. (2025). World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-shapers-impact-report-2025/
Engaging Young People in Decision-Making: Enabling Active Citizenship J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 5. (n.d.). Retrieved July 3, 2025, from https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Shapers_Impact_Report_2025.pdf
[4] Datareportal. (2025). Global Social Media Statistics. DataReportal – Global Digital Insights; Kepios. https://datareportal.com/social-media-users
