{"id":8676,"date":"2025-03-26T22:22:44","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T13:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/?p=8676"},"modified":"2025-04-03T15:50:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T06:50:40","slug":"international-womens-day-2025rule-breakers-the-compelling-true-story-of-afghan-girls-who-risked-all-to-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/institutional-highlights\/international-womens-day-2025rule-breakers-the-compelling-true-story-of-afghan-girls-who-risked-all-to-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"International Women\u2019s Day, 2025Rule Breakers: The Compelling True Story of Afghan Girls Who Risked All to Learn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Joyce Chimbi<\/a> and Naureen Hossain<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mar 7 2025 (IPS) <\/strong>– Like the Afghan robotics team, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, is breaking the \u2018rules\u2019 and continuing to educate young women in that country despite an edict from the Taliban denying girls a secondary school education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ECW\u2019s Yasmine Sherif, the Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, tore up a piece of paper as a symbolic representation of the Taliban edict, which she said violated international law and meant that 1.5 million girls were excluded from education. She was speaking at an International Women\u2019s Day press conference at the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film Rule Breakers<\/em>, and the Afghan Robotics Team it is based on, shows that \u201cyou can do anything. So for whatever we hear right now around us and see around the world, \u2018We don\u2019t have money. We can\u2019t do this.\u2019 We are saying\u2014watch Rule Breakers<\/em>. Create a new path.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rule Breakers<\/em> is a dramatic feature film that follows the story of young Afghan women who have broken tradition and stereotypes to pursue their dreams in science and technology. The film, which was released today, ahead of International Women\u2019s Day, is based on the true story of an all-girl robotics team, born and raised in Afghanistan, and the woman who taught them to dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ECW, with their partners, was also breaking the \u2018rules\u2019 made by the Taliban and had invested USD 30 million in a multi-year, community-based program that is supported by international partners in the most underserved areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSixty-five percent of those who are receiving education are girls and adolescent girls, so we are breaking the ban. We are breaking the rules because you have to do so if you want to do what is right in this particular context. So we have reached over 100,000 children, and as I said, 65 percent are adolescent girls,\u201d Sherif said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She encouraged funders to join in the rule-breaking in a climate where funding was scarce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yasmine Sherif, the Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, addresses a press conference at the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are rule breakers everywhere that believe that you still have to help the world. And I\u2019m saying, please help us. Help the Afghan girls to get their education, because I\u2019m sure that everyone agrees that this is a fantastic way of doing something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie, a harrowing tale and a clarion call to return Afghanistan\u2019s girls to the safety and hope of a quality education, releases today in the United States, Canada, South Africa and Sri Lanka, and Sherif says the world should use International Women\u2019s Day to push for the ending of the ban on girls\u2019 secondary education in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn International Women\u2019s Day, we are joining nations around the world to call for the end of the cruel and destructive ban on girls\u2019 secondary education. It is time to rebuild Afghanistan based on the vast potential of her most precious natural resource: the resilient and strong Afghan girls and boys. Keep alive their hope through education and let them develop and be productive for the country,\u201d says Sherif.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rule Breakers <\/em>is a PG-rated, family-friendly film\u2014directed by Oscar-winner Bill Guttentag<\/a>\u2014that highlights the unique transformative power of education and raises awareness about the crucial importance of the right to education for girls in Afghanistan, in other crises and emergency settings globally, and the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education for all girls around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Elaha Mahboob, co-producer and writer of <\/strong>Rule Breakers<\/em>, addresses a press conference at the United Nations.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Elaha Mahboob, co-producer and writer of Rule Breakers<\/em>, addresses a press conference at the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elaha Mahboob, <\/em>co-producer and writer of Rule Breakers, <\/em>told the press conference that the film brought out nuances in Afghan women\u2019s lives that are not often considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUsually when we talk about Afghan girls and Afghan women, it is either around tragedy or we see an Afghan woman as merely a victim of conflict. Which is, you know, part of the story, but it is not the full picture or full story of what life has been like for women, or what life has been like in the past twenty years in Afghanistan,\u201d Mahboob said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yasmine Sherif (left), Elaha Mahboob (center), and Roya Mahboob (right). Roya Mahboob is a tech entrepreneur who established the non-profit Digital Citizen Fund, which founded the Afghan girls\u2019 robotics team, whom the movie is about. Credit: Naureen Hossain\/IPS<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yasmine Sherif (left), Elaha Mahboob (center), and Roya Mahboob (right). Roya Mahboob is a tech entrepreneur who established the non-profit Digital Citizen Fund, which founded the Afghan girls\u2019 robotics team, whom the movie is about. Credit: Naureen Hossain\/IPS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me, it was really important we show a side of Afghanistan that we have never seen in the media or any movies. That there was progress; there were so many courageous women and men that were trying to build a future in Afghanistan. And even though you will see in the movie that there were so many [societal] challenges, like expectations and limitations for these girls, they didn\u2019t sit back and they never gave up on their dreams. They were actually actively working toward their dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set in Afghanistan, where learning for young women is often considered rebellion, Rule Breakers<\/a> brings to life the incredible story of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team, showcasing the resilience of girls in STEM and, more so, that ambitious young girls and women in crises and emergency situations should neither be forgotten nor left behind in their pursuit of STEM. It is a story of courage, resilience, and the power of education that, importantly, seeks to inspire and keep the dream of an education alive for all children everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Afghan Girls Robotics Team, also known as the \u201cAfghan Dreamers,\u201d was founded in 2017 by Roya Mahboob, a young woman from Herat, Afghanistan, who became a leading force in the country for STEM education for girls. These girls were told their dreams were impossible and that there was no place for women and girls in science, technology, and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The young women dared to dream and refused to be silenced. Overcoming staggering obstacles, Roya and her team trained in engineering and robotics and traveled the world to compete in international high school robotics competitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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