Relief International is working with Afghan teachers to integrate human rights education into their classrooms, with a curriculum that emphasizes women's and children's rights.
Human rights abuses in Afghanistan have often gone unpunished during 20 years of war, foreign occupation and Taliban rule. The limited reach of the present Afghan government in rural areas, longstanding corruption in the police and justice systems, and a lack of laws protecting women and children create more opportunities for abuse. The program trains teachers in several regions of Afghanistan to introduce the subject to their students, who are mostly not aware of their rights.
RI’s human rights curriculum draws from a base of international materials, which are grounded in an Afghan context through collaboration with Afghan teachers. The teachers then return to their classrooms with new modules for educating their students.
The teachers who RI trains will introduce human rights studies not only to their students, but also to other teachers and in turn to more students. RI hopes to use the new curriculum as a template for a widely distributed standard in Afghanistan.
