From Oxford scholar to creating opportunities for the next generation 🎓 Oxford alumna Shabana Basij-Rasikh has donated $2.5 million to fund a scholarship enabling an Afghan woman to pursue a master’s degree at Oxford each year. More info ⬇️ @oxfordalumni ox.ac.uk/news/2026-10-12-new…

Azerbaijani Girls Forced to Choose Between Hijab and Education Azerbaijan has tightened its school dress code, barring the hijab from classrooms for both students and teachers from September 21. In a country that is around 96 per cent Muslim, and whose flag bears a crescent on a green band, schoolgirls have been turned away at the gates, some in tears. Teachers who refused to remove their headscarves have lost their jobs. Among those affected is the daughter of a war veteran who lost his arm defending the country, and who has publicly asked whether he sacrificed it for a hijab ban. The move has triggered a backlash. Students have taken to the streets chanting “Hijab”, while women across the country have shared images online of themselves wearing the headscarf in solidarity. Critics point to Azerbaijan’s own constitution, where Article 42 guarantees the right to education, and Article 48 protects freedom of religion. For now, a law intended to push the hijab out of public life appears to have made it more visible than ever.

🇦🇿 Is it fair to prevent thousands of girls from education in Azerbaijan, as well as teachers from practicing teaching profession only because of a headscarf ! Just as any Muslim girl is allowed not to cover her hair, as part of her rights - as some claim- it is also the right of any girl not to reveal her hair outside the home. It’s that easy. Education is a right for every person in their country, regardless of their religion, sect, or ethnicity.

Today, in conjunction with the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust, a partner organization of the University of Oxford, I am proud to announce that I am making a gift of $2.5 million to endow a scholarship that will allow at least one Afghan woman to pursue her master’s degree at Oxford every year. The scholarship, which I’ve chosen to name the Afghan Women Leaders Fund, will provide 100% of the course fees for an eligible master’s degree along with an annual stipend to cover food and accommodation costs as well as a grant to offset certain student expenses. In addition, scholarship recipients will undertake an extensive leadership training program delivered by the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust. I myself am an alum of the Weidenfeld-Hoffman Scholarships and Leadership Program at Oxford, and it is my privilege to make this gift to honor the resilience and bravery of Afghan women. The scholarship will be available for students applying to join Oxford in September 2027, and full details are available by following the link below. tinyurl.com/bdasct8p I want to be clear that this gift does not come from SOLA, and it is independent of the funds we raise there to support our operations. In the spring of 2024, I was one of 12 individuals provided with $20 million by the philanthropist Melinda French Gates to launch our own philanthropic giving. I am endlessly grateful to Melinda and her team at Pivotal Ventures for their trust and belief in my vision of the world-changing power of a generation of educated Afghan women. I’m fully aware of the visa brake currently in effect in the UK, and this gift is in no way meant to be a political statement, nor should it be interpreted as one. I intend this gift to offer opportunity and possibilities for women whose bravery is the light in the darkness, both now and in years to come. At SOLA, we educate more than 40,000 students between our boarding school in Rwanda and our online program SOLAx. We are proud of what we’ve accomplished, but we are not satisfied. The need is immense. The work is generational. A few years ago at the UN, I asked: “What is one girl worth? She’s worth everything – and she can do anything.” I am so happy to be in a position today where I can make a financial gift that places the tools of success in the hands of deserving Afghan women. This is all we’ve ever asked: not to be pitied or patronized, but only to have access to the tools we need to build our own futures, our own successes. At Oxford next fall, an Afghan woman leader’s journey will begin. Another Afghan woman will come the following year, and it will continue, year after year, woman after woman. I am eager to see the future each one of them will build.

Today, @TIME named me as one of the members of the 2026 TIME100 Next, their annual list of 100 individuals who are defining the next generation of leadership: time.com/collection/time100-… I’m proud, I’m humbled – and I know that while this honor is for me, it’s not about me. It’s about the women of Afghanistan and the hope they carry like fire in their hands. It’s about the students of @solaafghanistan, the Afghan girls who will change the world. It’s about the resilient SOLA global village of friends and supporters. It’s about you, reading these words, because you are with us. And that means everything. I hope you’ll take a moment to look over the full list: time.com/collection/time100-…. This is a proud and humbling day, and a day that I know will inspire us all. There is work to do, and we will do it.

Congratulations to Congresswoman @aishabbwahab on winning the special election in California. She is the first Afghan American woman to be elected to Congress. Wishing her continued success in the upcoming November election.

فرا رسیدن #سالروز_استقلال کشور را به هموطنان عزیز تبریک می‌گویم و با ارج گذاری به ایثار و فداکاری مبارزان راه آزادی و استقلال، یاد و خاطره آنان را گرامی میدارم. هموطنان گرامی! هرچند بدست آوردن استقلال و تحمل سختی‌های مبارزه برای رسیدن به آن، ارزشمند و باعث اعتبار و افتخار ملت ماست اما حفظ استقلال و بهره‌مندی از لوازم آن، در صورتی ممکن است که #افغانستان عزیز یک کشور قوی و متکی بخود باشد در حالیکه قوت یک مملکت بسته به صلح و ثبات پایدار، وحدت ملی و داشتن جوانان آراسته به زیور علم و دانش است. نیک میدانیم که قوای بشری تعلیم یافته در صورتی تربیت می‌شود که فرصت آموزش و تعلیم برای تمام فرزندان ما اعم از دختران و پسران فراهم باشد و اتحاد و اتفاق بین مردم در صورتی استحکام می‌یابد که احساس مالکیت همگانی و باور به سرنوشت مشترک گسترش یابد. افغانستان تنها با پشتوانهٔ انسجام و قوت ملی می‌تواند از مزایای استقلال برخوردار شده به پیشرفت نایل آید و همزمان، عضو مسئول و با اعتبار جامعه بین‌المللی با جایگاه شایسته و قابل احترام در جهان باشد. بار دیگر، سال‌روز استقلال افغانستان عزیز را تبریک گفته برای وطن و هموطنان عزتمند خود آرامش، آسایش و بهروزی استدعا می‌نمایم.

Five years ago today, Afghanistan fell into shadow. And for every day of the past five years, Afghan women and girls have been points of light in that darkness. These are my thoughts about the meaning of this day, and about the days to come. #DontLookAway

"په دولسم ټولګی کې وم، چې طالبان راغلل. زموږ لپاره هغه ورځ یوازې د حکومت بدلون نه و زموږ د ډېرو خوبونو او هیلو پای و. د وېرې او نا امنۍ له امله مو نږدې یو- دوه کاله له کوره د وتلو جرئت نه درلود او له سخت رواني فشار سره مخامخ شوو." bbc.in/3Uz1mqi

August 15, 2026, marks five years since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. Over the last five years, the Taliban’s increasingly draconian policies have made Afghanistan one of the world’s gravest human rights crises, particularly for women and girls. See the timeline of abuses over the last five years: bit.ly/465VBTv

مریم، زن شاغل از افغانستان می‌گوید او را از اداره‌ای که کار می‌کرد اخراج و کارکنان مرد را جایگزین کردند اما او دست از تلاش برداشته است.

A year ago, we warned against the normalisation of Taliban rule. We repeat that warning today with greater urgency, because the temptation to normalise has grown while the grounds to justify it have not. Normalising a regime that systematically persecutes more than half of its population does not promote change; it legitimises oppression. ohchr.org/en/statements-and-…