KABUL, Afghanistan — Aryana Sayeed, Afghanistan’s famous singer and a leading advocate for women’s rights, called for urgent international intervention to restore education for girls during a virtual meeting with students still inside the country.
The meeting was organized by Defend, an advocacy initiative founded and led by Ms. Sayeed, and marked her third such session with girls who have been barred from attending school under Taliban rule.
According to a statement released by the group, dozens of girls from across Afghanistan joined the online conversation, sharing their experiences and appeals for support.
Many of the participants urged Ms. Sayeed to raise their voices globally and to use her platform to advocate for their right to an education — a right that has been systematically denied since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
Photographs from the event showed the girls holding pens in the air and flashing the victory sign as they chanted: “Education is our right, and victory will be ours.”
Since the Taliban takeover, girls in Afghanistan have been barred from secondary and higher education, drawing international condemnation and sustained pressure on the regime to reverse the policy.
“This is a human rights crisis that demands the world’s immediate attention,” Ms. Sayeed said during the session. She pledged to continue using her voice on behalf of Afghan girls who remain silenced at home.
