Campaigning for girls to stay in school in Pakistan

Pakistan’s Umerkot district is one of the worst drought-affected regions in the Sindh province and many people are forced to migrate for work. Displacement is widespread, education and health services are lacking.  

According to Act for Peace International Programs Coordinator, Nitasha Akerman, girls are less likely to be in school, and women and children lack access to vital child and maternal health services.  

“There are varying challenges, in particular economic insecurity, and strain on families where boys can be given preference for education over girls,” says Nitasha.

We support Community World Service Asia (CWSA) to improve education for communities experiencing or facing displacement through education and health services. CWSA provides meals in schools to help improve attendance and retention rates, and educates the community on the importance of education for girls. 

“Village Management Committees (VMCs) are mobilising the community and influencing changing attitudes, to support and advocate for education for girls,” says Nitasha. 

Those community mobilisers are making a real change in shifting attitudes on girls’ education. 

	Sorath and her daughter. Image credit: Community World Service Asia (CWSA)

Sorath is a farm labourer with no formal education. She has a daughter and three sons, and four years ago she was against sending her daughter to school, like most people in her community. 

But everything changed when she attended awareness sessions on gender equality and learned about girls’ rights. She began to believe that life could be different for her daughter. 

“I thought to myself that I have been illiterate all my life and therefore condemned to being a farm labourer who spends full summer days picking cotton… Why does my daughter have to be similarly [disadvantaged]?” 

“My daughter is so happy about her education,” says Sorath. “She is up early and dressed long before it is time to walk to school. She gets her brothers ready and then goes around the [village] coaxing the other girls to hurry.” 

When Sorath saw the change in her daughter, she became a passionate advocate for all the girls in her community to go to school. She went door-to-door, teaching families the importance of education and encouraging them to send their daughters to school. It wasn’t long before 40 girls from her community were enrolled. 

Thanks to our generous supporters, more girls in Pakistan can go to school and hope for a brighter future.  

Together, in caring for humankind, we’re acting for peace in the world.  

^{Act for Peace gratefully acknowledges the support of the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).}   

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