Scholarships for At-risk Youth in Afghanistan

Dear Friends, 

The Bamyan Foundation through its Scholarship Program continues to support both girls and boys in Afghanistan under the current circumstances that the Taliban has forbidden girls from getting higher education. This Scholarship Program offers a glimpse of hope to the youth in the most marginalized and long discriminated Hazara communities in Afghanistan.

This year—academic year 2024—Bamyan Foundation has provided 156 scholarships to 127 girls and 29 boys. We are strongly committed to supporting these students even though the current conditions in Afghanistan are less than ideal.

Since the beginning of our Scholarship Program in 2016, the Bamyan Foundation has provided 1200 scholarships to at-risk youth ranging from elementary to high school students. Throughout our program, while most of our scholarship recipients have been girls, we have also provided scholarships to boys in communities where we identified our financial support was the only means to make getting an education possible for the small number of boys.

Creating opportunities for girls in Afghanistan to get an education calls for much stronger support now than ever before, particularly with the release of the Taliban’s recent decree that directs further isolation of girls and women and forbids them not only from getting an education but also excludes them from practicing their fundamental human rights.

Over the years, the focus on education, mainly girls’ education in the Hazara communities in Afghanistan, has resulted in a positive change. There is a tremendous support for education, moderate norms, and peaceful values, which demonstrates the Hazaras’ resolve toward progress and social growth. We appreciate the participating students’ determination and their educators’ resilience in continuing to view education as a way forward.

We express our sincere gratitude to our friends, donors, and supporters whose generosity enables the Bamyan Foundation to continue its Scholarship Program. Every dollar you give makes a huge impact in the lives of the Hazara youth, particularly girls! Your support makes learning opportunities possible for the most vulnerable segment of an already marginalized population in Afghanistan.

Sincerely,

The Team at Bamyam Foundation

Links:

• Scholarship Program Report
• Scholarship Programs and Projects