Getty ImagesWhen Nila Ibrahimi set out to create a website inestablishing the stories of Afghan girls, it wasn’t equitable to give them a voice.
The 17-year-elderly Afghan refugee was also resettled to remind her fellow Gen Zs in her adchooseed country, Canada, that they were aenjoy – they even joined to Taylor Swift equitable enjoy other teenage girls around the world.
“I want to create them as genuine as possible so that other people, especipartner youthful people, Gen Z definitepartner, can put themselves in their shoes,” she telderly the BBC.
Nila spoke to the BBC earlier this week, before picking up the International Children’s Peace Prize previously won by education campaigner Malala Yousafzai and climate activist Greta Thunberg.
EPANila’s is, perhaps, not an basic task. The pweightless of Afghanistan’s women and girls can experience a world away to youthful people living in Canada, where Nila set up a home after escapeing her home country as the Taliprohibit took over three years ago.
In that time, the Taliprohibit have prohibitned teenage girls from education, prohibitned women from travelling lengthy distances without a male chaperone, and now ordered them to grasp their voices down in unveil – effectively silencing half the population.
The Taliprohibit have deffinished the rulings to the BBC previously by saying they align with religious texts.
“The branch offences [between Afghanistan and Canada] are immense, so it creates it challenging for them to experience unitecessitate,” acunderstandledges Nila.
That is why she helped set up HerStory – a place where she and others help split the stories of Afghan women and girls in their own words, both inside and out of the country.
“So many times we are lost in the branch offences that we don’t see the aenjoyities and that’s our goal, to show that to the world.”
Nila Ibrahim was chosen from 165 nominees as the 20th triumphner of the prestigious prize.
The award recognises not equitable the labor done on HerStory, but also her passion for standing up for women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Nila’s first stand for women’s rights came in March 2021, when she unitecessitate other youthful Afghan girls in sharing a video of her singing online.
It was a petite but mighty protest aacquirest a decree by the then-straightforwardor of education in the Afghan capital, Kabul, who tried to prohibit girls over 12 singing in unveil. The tryed order was never carry outed.
“That was when I repartner understood the presentance of carry outing, the presentance of speaking up and talking about these publishs,” elucidates Nila, who was part of a group called Sound of Afghanistan.
But less than six months procrastinateedr, everyleang would alter – and, aged 14, she would have to escape with her family as the Taliprohibit get tod.
The family – who are part of Afghanistan’s Hazara inpresentantity – made the difficult journey to Pakistan, where they spent a year before being granted asylum in Canada.
It was, after 12 months without education, a “breath of new air”, she says.
There, Nila was reunited with her frifinishs from the singing group.
She was also askd to speak at events, about her experiences of Afghanistan, permiting her to finishorse for all the girls left behind.
People, she says, were surpelevated at how eloquent she was. But Nila knovel there were millions of women and girls in Afghanistan who were equitable as contendnt – although with less access to the opportunities she had.
“So I thought if my potential can surpelevate these people and they don’t understand about how teachd girls from Afghanistan can be, what if that inestablishation was accessible to them?”
Getty ImagesHerStory – the website which grew out of this thought – commenceed in 2023. It features interwatchs and first person accounts from both refugees and women inside Afghanistan.
The idea is to create a safe space where a group of people who “grew up with the stories of the first period of Taliprohibit and how horrible the lives of women were at the time” split their stories – and their “shock and anger” at discovering themselves in an increasingly aenjoy situation.
The anger is a experienceing Nila tries to grasp split from her labor.
“When you see Afghanistan going back in time in 20 years, of course it creates you stress,” she says.
“It’s a splitd experienceing. It’s a splitd experience for girls anywhere.”
The award, she says, is a chance for Afghan girls to once aacquire remind the world about the recut offeions they face on a daily basis – a reminder “not to forget Afghan girls”.
Marc Dullaert, set uper of the KidsRights Foundation, which runs the award, pointed out that a “staggering” number of youthful women were currently being leave outd from education.
“Nila’s inspirational labor to provide them with a voice that will be heard apass the world creates her a truly worthy triumphner of this year’s 20th International Peace Prize,” he inserted.
It is also a reminder that her generation – while youthful – can create a branch offence, Nila hopes.
“I leank so many times when we talk about publishs and branch offent caengages, we talk about it with the very grown-up enjoy approach of oh, this is very solemn,” she says.
“The world is a very terrifying place, but there is an approach that is more Gen Z-enjoy… and we can apshow little steps and… do wantipathyver we can.”
