Aqeela Asifi

Aqeela Asifi is an Afghan woman teacher who has educated thousands of refugee children in Mianwali, Pakistan.[1]

Aqeela Asifi
Born1966
Afghanistan
CitizenshipAfghan
OccupationTeacher
Known foreducating thousands of refugee children in Pakistan
AwardsNansen Refugee Award

Asifi trained in Afghanistan as a teacher of history and geography.[2]

She had to leave her country when the Taliban took over in 1992. When she arrived as a refugee at the Kot Chandna camp in Mianwali, there were no schools for refugee children. Aqeela set up a school in a borrowed tent. In 2017 there are nine schools in the camp with over 1,500 students.[3] Several of these schools are also attended by Afghan refugee girls.[4]

In 2015 Asifi was honoured with the Nansen Refugee Award for her untiring efforts in providing Afghan refugee children with an education. She has used most of her US $100,000[5] Nansen prize money to building a new school.[6] The Award honours extraordinary service to refugees.[7]

References
  1. For refugees, education is as essential as shelter The Guardian Retrieved 24 March 2017
  2. A life of teaching Afghan refugee girls BBC Retrieved 24 March 2017
  3. The Global Teacher Prize website Archived 2017-06-26 at the Wayback Machine Global Teacher Prize Retrieved 24 March 2017
  4. Amid Mass Returns, a Teacher’s Hopes for Refugee Girls in Afghanistan Archived 14 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine News Deeply Retrieved 24 March 2017
  5. Pakistani Teacher Aqeela Asifi ranked among Top Ten Teachers of the World Daily Times Retrieved 24 March 2017
  6. Educating Afghan refugees in Pakistan UCA News Retrieved 24 March 2017
  7. UNHCR names Afghan refugee teacher Aqeela Asifi its 2015 Nansen Refugee Award winner UNHCR Retrieved 24 March 2017


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