Education Civil Society

Educating girls amid crisis

Hope, stability and prosperity for all Syrians

Aga Khan Foundation | 13 June 2025

In times of conflict, education is often one of the first things to be disrupted, and girls are most at risk of being left behind.

In Syria, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) has been working with local communities and international partners to ensure that education remains a source of hope and possibility, even amid crisis.

In this series of three short films, we highlight how community leaders, teachers, and parents in Syria and other fragile contexts have worked together to help girls and young women overcome immense challenges and pursue their right to learn.

Sedrat and Areej are two young women who, despite hardship, have managed to pursue their own paths and return to learning, building a future for themselves where they can thrive.

AGENCI: The Adolescent Girls’ Education in Crisis Initiative

A cut above: Meet Areej

Back to school: Meet Sedrat

This work is part of the Aga Khan Development Network’s (AKDN) broader commitment to supporting the Syrian people through initiatives that uphold dignity, rebuild lives and livelihoods, and lay the foundations for long-term recovery – support that has now been deepened through the Ismaili Imamat’s €100 million pledge for Syria’s development.

With a decades-long presence in Syria, AKDN’s work spans education, health, economic opportunity and climate resilience. Our approach is rooted in local leadership and guided by a commitment to peace, pluralism and a people-first vision of development – fostering resilience among all Syrians and ensuring that the most vulnerable have the tools and opportunities to lead their own recovery.

From 2019 to 2024, with financial support from the Government of Canada and in partnership with World University Service of Canada, the Adolescent Girls’ Education in Crisis Initiative (AGENCI) worked with local communities in South Sudan, Syria and Uganda. The programme reached more than 120,000 adolescent girls and young women – over 50,000 of them in Syria.

Learn more about AGENCI