SECRET SCHOOLS

The return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan since August 2021 has had a serious impact on the lives of the country's population, particularly women, girls and children. In just a few days, more and more internally displaced persons (also called IDPs, Internally Displaced Persons) from all over the country have flocked into the makeshift refugee camps: tens of thousands of people in serious hygienic and sanitary conditions, often deprived of even the most basic necessities.

The country was already in serious difficulty even before the return of the Taliban to power, with roughly half the population below the poverty line and 12.5 million people suffering from severe food insecurity. In addition, 57% of the population is illiterate, with around 3.7 million children not attending school - 85% of them female.

With the return of the Taliban regime, since August 2021 in Afghanistan women have been banned from universities and have access to secondary schools in only 7 of the country's 34 provinces. Women and girls are forbidden to work outside the home and to participate in political and social life. In fact, women are often forced to stay at home and can only leave the house with their heads covered and in the company of their husbands or male relatives. In 2021, Afghanistan was ranked last in the Global Women, Peace and Security Index.

Our commitment

It is in this dramatic context, due to the return of the Taliban regime, that we are committed to supporting the Afghan population through the ‘Secret Schools’ Project.

We continue our historic support for RAWA (Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan) and the other local women's organisations who, having remained at the front, have not ceased their commitment, risking their lives for an Afghanistan where the rights and dignity of each person are respected and protected. Since the first days of the Taliban's return to power, the project that has seen the Costa Family Foundation committed to the education of women in Afghanistan for many years has in fact been reinvented: in numerous schools throughout the country and in 50 small secret schools, we support the women of RAWA who, with courage and determination, continue to guarantee literacy, but also personal, social and human training, to over 800 women and girls. With this project, we also help to secure the salaries of over 60 teachers, further facilitating the emancipation of many Afghan women.

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