2023 Peace Prize Winner Urges Afghan Girls: ‘Keep Your Hope’
Nargis Mommand, a peace activist and former professor at Kabul University, has recently been awarded the 2023 International Peace Prize in Sweden. Ms. Mommand urges Afghan girls and women to persevere in their struggle and not lose hope.
Nargis Mommand received the Global Peace Prize for providing online education to underserved girls and launching successful online educational centres.
Speaking to Khaama Press News Agency, Nargis said, “Over the past two years, my efforts in the women’s sector have involved providing online education to girls in English, Pashto literature, and computer skills.”
The International Sweden Prize is presented to individuals worldwide who have engaged in peace, education, children’s rights, and the fight against gender inequalities.
She has continued to send financial aid to some girls over the past two years to support their online education, but she has yet to provide further details.
This former Kabul University professor and winner of a global peace prize expresses the value of the award: “It is valuable for our country that someone from Afghanistan could receive this award and at least be a voice for Afghan women on international stages.”
Ms Nargis used to teach at Kabul University before the resurgence of the Taliban administration, and now she has been living in Germany for two years.
Two years into the Taliban’s rule, girls still have not been allowed to return to schools
and universities. The peace prize winner advises Afghan girls: “Do not lose hope; you are not alone. This situation will not last.”
After taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban administration banned girls from attending secondary schools and above and banned female students from universities, sparking significant international backlash. However, girls remain deprived of education after two years and see a bleak future.
According to a recent report by The Guardian newspaper, suicide rates among women in Afghanistan over the past years have been twice as high as those among men.
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