ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS
To call for immediate action to further support Afghan female and male students and their advocacy efforts, the Network of Former Youth Delegates to the United Nations, in collaboration with UNESCO, UNFPA, and the Adolescents and Youth Working Group (AYWG), organized a series of Round Table Discussions to explore Afghan youth perceptions, ideas, and innovation around access to higher education, as well as to boost donor and key stakeholders willingness to support access to higher education for Afghan youths, especially female youths.
Roundtable discussion 1 took place on July 6th, 2022, with students and young people from public and private universities. As a result, the Advocacy Document was created by the Network of Former Youth Delegates to the United Nations, summarizing the key issues, the consequences if these issues are not addressed, innovative ideas and solutions for higher education in Afghanistan, and the call to action for key donors and higher education stakeholders.
Roundtable discussion 2 took place on September 13th, 2022, and united universities, donors, UN agencies, and cluster representatives to advocate for immediate action to support higher education access. The Call to Action document was presented as a blueprint for future actions concerning higher education access.
The presentation detailed the challenges of accessing higher education faced by youth, especially female students in Afghanistan, and recommendations for innovative approaches to ensure their right to education.
The “Call to Action” document has been a result of the joint advocacy of UNESCO and youth leaders from the Network of Former Youth Delegates to the United Nations. The document resulted after roundtable discussions, which united universities, donors, UN agencies, and cluster representatives to advocate for immediate action to support higher education access. The Call to Action document was presented as a blueprint for future actions concerning higher education access. The Call to Action document details the challenges of accessing higher education faced by youth, especially female students in Afghanistan, and recommendations for innovative approaches to ensure their right to education. The document highlights current support for higher education in Afghanistan, emphasizing advocacy, alternative learning modalities study, and innovating pathways for online education.
Adolescents and Youth Working Group (AYWG), chaired by UNFPA in collaboration with the Former Youth Delegates to the UN and UNESCO, co-organized Roundtable #1 on Higher Education in Afghanistan. The overall concern of youth activists who are currently studying at various universities covered the issues of brain drain and emigration prompted by the Taliban takeover last year, increased restrictions on freedom of movement for women and rights of girls for education.
A Call to Action, as an advocacy piece indicating the challenges of accessing Higher Education faced by youth in Afghanistan and recommendations of innovative approaches to ensure their right to education, will be shared by the Network of Former Youth Delegates to the United Nations. Youth ideas and project proposals outlined in the document will be explained in more detail in order to secure donor support from universities, donors, UN agencies and cluster representatives.