The Power of Advocacy: Dallas Teens Take on the UN to Support Afghan Women
When former Afghan diplomat Farima Nawabi spoke about her experience living under Taliban rule to Dallas students, she didn’t expect to cry. She has told this story many times – how she was barred from going to school in the 1990s, how she lost her job and home when Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021, how she now lives in political exile in Sweden.
Still, when a student at Alcuin School asked what she missed most about Afghanistan, her eyes began to well up. "I miss everything," she thought.
The Education Lab
The Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
A Call to Action
Her September visit spurred students to help Afghan women currently living under Taliban rule. Their advocacy is taking them to Geneva this week, where a dozen Dallas teens are urging the United Nations Human Rights Council to advance women’s rights and regional peace in Afghanistan.
"I could imagine how I would feel in that situation, especially as someone who so values her education and her voice," sophomore Kiran Shagrithaya said of hearing Nawabi’s experiences. "That really impacted me as a young girl."
The Journey to Geneva
The students will deliver speeches to nongovernmental organizations on topics such as expanding health care access, protecting girls’ right to education and supporting women’s participation in sports. On Friday, senior Wonder Cather will deliver an address – on behalf of three advocacy groups – to the council that’s regarded as the world’s most important human rights body.
"If students take the initiative and speak, that’s going to send out a very strong message to the council," Nawabi said. "These kids represent peace and innocence."
The Power of Advocacy
Alcuin teacher Lindsay Johnston, who often brings in speakers to her Junior World Affairs Council class, was connected to Nawabi through a mutual acquaintance. After hearing Nawabi’s story, Johnston and her students at the small, private school in North Dallas overhauled their curriculum to focus on the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
The class wanted "to help those that can’t speak up, because we now see what that means on an individual level, as opposed to a faceless news story," Johnston said.
The Impact of Service
Students researched the country’s history, from the 1979 Soviet invasion to the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011, and read about current events. They made an online site where students around the world could write messages in support of Afghan women. In October, the class planned to send instructional materials to nursing schools in Afghanistan, one of the last paths for women to gain an education. A few weeks later, the Taliban barred women from medical training institutes.
"We’ve done service projects before, but nothing’s quite hit me like this, seeing it actively unfold," Shagrithaya said. "And learning, knowing that these women can’t, puts it into perspective."
The Future of Advocacy
As Nawabi got to know the students’ work, she reached out to ambassadors and nongovernmental organizations she had worked with as a diplomat. Could they get a dozen American students passes into the UN offices? Could they secure a coveted 90-second slot to speak? She and Johnston want to bring students in front of the U.N. to teach them about the power of advocacy and the breadth of careers in diplomacy.
"So often, if you talk to high school kids and ask them what they want to be, you get, ‘I’m going to be a lawyer, I’m going to be a doctor, I’m going to be an engineer,’ because that’s what they see," Johnston said. "They don’t know what diplomatic jobs and international organizations are out there unless you show them."
Conclusion
The students learned in November they would be traveling to Switzerland. Cather, the senior who hopes to pursue a career in diplomacy, said it felt like a dream. She made flashcards of diplomats’ names and packed a suitcase full of her favorite autobiographies, ready to be signed by advocates, such as Fawzia Koofi, a former Afghan parliamentary lawmaker, whom she said she hopes to meet this week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the purpose of the Education Lab?
A: The Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative that focuses on urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
Q: What is the goal of the Dallas teens’ trip to Geneva?
A: The goal is to urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to advance women’s rights and regional peace in Afghanistan.
Q: How did the students become involved in this project?
A: The students were inspired by Farima Nawabi’s story and decided to take action to support Afghan women currently living under Taliban rule.
