Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are barred from attending school beyond 6th grade. Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, more than 2.2 million girls and young women have been shut out of education. Charmaghz is a US nonprofit founded in 2018 by Afghan education activist Freshta Karim. For seven years, we ran a Mobile Library program in Kabul that reached over one million child visitors. In 2025, the Taliban forcibly shut down our in-person programs, and we refocused our mission on providing online education to Afghan girls and young women banned from school. This program will discuss how Charmaghz responded to that setback, and what it takes to defend girls’ education in the most challenging place on earth.
Liz Robinson is the CEO of Charmaghz. She has worked with nonprofits in the international development and education sectors for over a decade, including across the Middle East, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. She first worked in Afghanistan in 2016, and is deeply committed to elevating and advancing education programs that transform children’s futures, and the systems that shape them. Liz has a BA from Tufts University in International Relations and Economics, an MA from University College London in Education and International Development, and a Graduate Certificate in Early Grade Reading in Developing Countries from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.