Community & advocacy
Community engagement and advocacy
Where AYLA started
In August 2019, before the online courses existed, AYLA ran the Youth Summit for Peace across Balkh and Baghlan provinces. One hundred university students took part in a two-day programme, presenting their ideas for peace and education to a panel of four academic judges. The summit set the pattern AYLA still follows: young Afghans convening other young Afghans, with education treated as peace work.
Humanitarian response
Through COVID-19 and the political collapse that followed, AYLA kept operating. During Ramadan the team ran a humanitarian fundraising campaign that distributed food packages to families in need. Students cannot study through a hunger crisis, and AYLA has never pretended the two problems are separate.
Advocacy and reporting
AYLA publishes a detailed report at the end of each round — enrolment, attendance, survey data, teacher and student feedback, and what the money was spent on. Those reports are the basis of this website, and they exist so that donors, partners and journalists can see the programme as it actually is rather than as a brochure.
Take the next step
One coupon. One month of data. One girl still in school.
AYLA runs on volunteered hours and small, specific donations. Round 5 cost $5,100 and taught around 300 students — that is roughly $17 per girl, per round.