On behalf of an Afghan headteacher, Josephine Dibb shares a moving story about education and women's rights to mark Human Rights Day
Education is the greatest tool we have to empower young people to improve their life chances and help them to become catalysts for change in their communities.
That is a belief held very strongly by colleagues at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Girls' School where many of our young women face multiple disadvantages.
But the challenges we face seem to pale in comparison when I hear of the dangers faced by school girls and the women who teach them in a country like Afghanistan, where just over 10 years ago girls' education was outlawed altogether.
That seems incomprehensible for us and I know the girls themselves would be incredulous at the thought that they could be denied education. They know that education is their key to a better future.
The thought that our pupils could be poisoned, or gassed, or our teachers attacked, just because our aim is to empower young women, is unfathomable to me. And yet these are the very real dangers faced by my professional colleagues in Afghanistan.
The request from Amnesty to take part in a film came out of the blue. As a headteacher, I avoid anything which might be seen as political but the story of Parween, an Afghan headteacher who have suffered attacks from armed groups because of her work, had a profound effect. It is a pure accident of birth that I work in the safety of north London while Parween does the same job under constant threat to her and her family in Afghanistan.
Yet, I am sure that there there is more that unites us than separates us. We both believe in the fundamental importance of education for young women and know that what we do will help the next generation to create a better world. Schools are places where notion of justice and injustice can be explored, where young people can be encouraged to speak out and to stand up for what is right. I would be a very poor role model, if I did not speak out in Parween's words to support the women of Afghanistan who face such an uncertain future.
When I read Parween's story, I was moved to do something to support Amnesty's campaign. I can't imagine receiving death threats, or my family being threatened, because of my job.
If I was Parween, would I have the strength and courage to continue? I can't answer that question, but I know that Parween's strength and dedication to the cause of girls' education left me in awe. If she is willing to continue fighting for girls' empowerment in the face of such danger, shouldn't we, wherever we are in the world, support her?
If I was Parween, I would want to know that people care about my work and the injustice I had suffered. Most of all I would want to know that something was being done. The UK government has played such a significant role in Afghanistan during the past decade. I hope they will do all they can to ensure the women now working all over the country are supported to continue.
It's easy to think that we can't make a difference, but saying nothing is tantamount to collusion.
Josephine Dibb is headteacher of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Girls' School, an outstanding school serving some of the most disadvantaged young women in the country. She has been a teacher for more than 30 years and a headteacher for the past 15 years. She has worked in inner city London, apart from two years working overseas.
