Pashtana Durrani

Founder: LEARN

Pashtana was born in Pakistan to parents who fled Afghanistan, escaping the civil war and the Taliban, and grew up in a refugee camp until 2016. Education was severely limited in these refugee camps, and there was no transportation to the nearest school – which was about 12 kilometers away. Her father, originally a tribal leader, opened a school for girls in the refugee camp in 2001. As teachers at this school, her parents stressed the need for girls’ education and worked hard to provide equal educational opportunities. Influenced by her parents, Pashtana decided to work on promoting girls’ education herself.

She established LEARN Afghanistan in 2018, to help girls safely and securely access quality education, while operating out of sight of the Taliban. LEARN also delivers an online curriculum with a wide range of content, including English and STEM education, to 400 girls in four schools with local facilitators. Through LEARN, she has educated 7,000 girls in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and trained more than 80 teachers in digital literacy.

THE MISSION

Dedicated to bringing innovation in education, health, community resource building with a focus on women, girls and child rights advocacy in Afghanistan