Pakistan’s Umerkot district is one of the worst drought-affected regions in the Sindh province and many people are forced to migrate for work. Displacement is widespread and education and health services are lacking.
According to Act for Peace International Programs Coordinator, Nitasha Akerman, girls are less likely to be in school plus women and children lack access to vital child and maternal health services.
“There are varying challenges, in particular economic insecurity, and strain on families where boys can be given preference for education over girls,” says Nitasha.
“This is likely in instances where finances are limited, especially in single, female-headed households. Food insecurity also plays a significant role in school retention, especially for girls who are often the most affected.”
Mobilising the community
We support Community World Service Asia (CWSA) to improve education for communities experiencing or facing displacement through education and health services. CWSA provides meals in schools to help improve attendance and retention rates and educates the community on the importance of education for girls.
“Village Management Committees (VMCs) are mobilising the community and influencing changing attitudes, to support and advocate for education for girls,” says Nitasha. “The VMCs are made up of community members, where there is gender parity. The committees share information on the importance of girls’ education and improving school retention, focusing on child protection, safeguarding and child rights, while also creating safe and positive environments for learning.”
Those community mobilisers are making a real change in shifting attitudes on girls’ education.
Sorath is a farm labourer with no formal education. She has a daughter and three sons, and four years ago she was against sending her daughter to school, like most people in her community.
The motivation to seek change
But everything changed when she attended awareness sessions on gender equality and learned about girls’ rights. She began to believe that life could be different for her daughter.
“I thought to myself that I have been illiterate all my life and therefore condemned to being a farm labourer who spends full summer days picking cotton… Why does my daughter have to be similarly [disadvantaged]?”
First, Sorath and her husband had to get an official birth certificate for their daughter before they could enroll their daughter in school.
“My daughter is so happy about her education,” says Sorath. “She is up early and dressed long before it is time to walk to school. She gets her brothers ready and then goes around the [village] coaxing the other girls to hurry.”
Spreading the message
When Sorath saw the change in her daughter, she became a passionate advocate for all the girls in her community to go to school. She went door-to-door, teaching families the importance of education and encouraging them to send their daughters to school. It wasn’t long before 40 girls from her community were enrolled.
In acknowledgement of her efforts, Sorath was invited to speak at a seminar in Umerkot organised by the District Education Office. She had never even been to the city before, let alone spoken in front of a crowd of people.
“When there is an investment in education and empowerment of girls, we often see increased outcomes of community participation, representation and social inclusion,” says Nitasha. “In addition, there can be strengthened female leadership, enhanced capabilities of women and girls to respond to community needs and improved holistic health and wellbeing.”
Sorath continues to champion the rights of girls in her community, and she has big aspirations for her own daughter.
“I know college education will be expensive. But no matter how long and how hard I have to pick cotton and hoe the landlord’s fields, I’ll do it and see my daughter through to the highest level of education she wants to attain.”
Thanks to our generous supporters, more girls in Pakistan can go to school and hope for a brighter future.
Together, in caring for humankind, we’re acting for peace in the world.
Act for Peace gratefully acknowledges the support of the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
