This article is part of a Women and Leadership special report highlighting women who have forged new paths.
When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, they halted much of girls’ education across Afghanistan almost overnight. The regime prohibits girls from attending school beyond sixth grade and sharply restricts their movement in its imposition of Shariah law.
For Roya Mahboob, an Afghanistan-born tech entrepreneur long focused on improving girls’ access to education, the reversal was devastating. Death threats tied to her work intensified after 2021, leading her to flee the country and resettle full time with her family in Cliffside Park, N.J. And the Taliban’s return erased years of progress: her nonprofit, Digital Citizen Fund (D.C.F.), established in 2013, had operated 13 technology centers in schools across the country, and all were forced to close.
Ms. Mahboob, 37, is now redoubling her efforts from abroad. She has reassembled the Afghan Dreamers, the all-girls robotics team she helped create in 2017, expanding it to include young Afghan women now living in Canada, Sweden, Italy and the United States. Several current members still reside in Afghanistan and participate remotely, using WhatsApp and Zoom, but were unable to travel in October to their most recent competition, the FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition in Panama City, Panama. Ms. Mahboob’s work with the Afghan Dreamers is the subject of “Rule Breakers,” a narrative film released earlier this year that she executive produced.
Ms. Mahboob has also expanded the Digital Citizen Fund’s programming to include financial literacy content and eventually offer off-line learning options for girls cut off from school and the internet through a forthcoming app, Edy, designed to work without connectivity.
A new initiative, Inoura Academy, seeks to reach girls beyond Afghanistan with science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) robotics tools designed to inspire engineering interest even when classroom access is limited. Ms. Mahboob was interviewed by phone and email. The conversations were edited and condensed.
How do you reach girls in Afghanistan who can’t go online or attend school?
We’ve developed a free A.I.-enabled app called Edy that works off-line. It’s currently in beta and launching by the end of this year. It includes lessons for grades 7 to 12, open-source learning materials, 100-plus book summaries, translations, podcasts and mentorship programs. The lessons are only about math, science, English, history and other non-controversial topics. It is a risk, but we avoid subjects that would be considered risqué under the Taliban, such as politics, human rights and democracy.
We also work with underground centers where girls gather quietly to study together. We’ve learned that technology doesn’t always have to mean “online.” There are so many ways to learn without the internet: prerecorded classes that they can listen to on their phones, and books that they can download when they get internet access to read off-line.
What challenges have you faced in keeping your initiatives alive under Taliban restrictions?
In 2022, several of our teachers were arrested and accused of trying to overthrow the regime. Since then, we’ve had to decentralize.
We no longer have large centers. Instead, we rely on encrypted channels, local partners and small community networks of women who share materials safely. Based on my conversations with them, I estimate that we have reached 500 students this year. And we have our app, Edy. My goal is to reach thousands of students when it officially launches. It’s dangerous work, but the courage of our students keeps us going.
Why did you add financial literacy to D.C.F.’s mission for young Afghan women?
If you can’t manage your money, you can’t make independent decisions about your future. In Afghanistan, many women grew up without understanding how to save, invest or start a small business.
For me, financial literacy is about more than money; it’s about dignity and opportunity. When women and children understand how the economy works and how to sustain their ideas, they don’t just change their own lives — they strengthen their whole community.
You have spoken about blockchain and Bitcoin as tools of independence for Afghan women. How has cryptocurrency factored into your work with D.C.F.?
We started using Bitcoin in 2013, when many of our staff and bloggers couldn’t open bank accounts. It allowed women to be their own bank. After the fall of Kabul, when the banking system collapsed, Bitcoin and stablecoins became illegal.
For now, we provide education on Bitcoin, both online and at our underground centers, to our teachers and young girls. We explain what it is, how to use it and how it can change their lives.
Tell us more about your newest start-up, Inoura Academy.
It’s meant for 11- to 18-year-olds, and we design educational robots and comics. Our robot, Ruby, is a conversational, A.I.-powered girl who teaches children to code and financial literacy through play, movement and empathy. We combine robotics with art, storytelling and comics to make learning fun.
The post She Believes Technology Can Help Girls Learn, Even Under Taliban Rule appeared first on New York Times.
