This week saw another edition of Intrenational Women’s Day.

There is one counytry on earth where women had nothing to celebrate, except losing their right to education, work and free movement. They are being ereased from public life.

Being deprived of an education and therefore the possibility of having a brighter future just because of your gender is a reality in 2023. Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where a woman cannot get an education just because she is a woman.

Imagine having gone to school, imagine being just short of graduating from university, imagine having a job and suddenly, there is a regime change in your country. Overnight, you can no longer go to school, no longer work, you cannot even go the park with your children. You cannot go anywhere unless you are accompanied by a male relative.

To remember the women of Afghanistan, and to add my voice to the #LetHerLearn #LetAfghanGirlsLearn campaign, I have written a few haikus, which I have illustrated with drawings or paintings found online. Where possible I have given credit to the artists, but it’s sometimes difficult to find out who they are.

Please join the chorus to amplify the voice of Aghan women to regain their rights. All I can do is post poetry, but words have power as poets know!