Unlocking the Code: Breaking Barriers with Tech Education for Women in Afghanistan, with Fereshteh Forough

In this talk, Forough illuminates the transformative journey of empowering Afghan women through tech education and explores the groundbreaking initiatives of Code to Inspire, the first coding school for girls in Afghanistan. Fereshteh Forough is an Afghan social activist and is the CEO and founder of Code to Inspire (CTI), the first coding school for girls inAfghanistan. She is also an advocate for gender equality and the empowerment of women in developing countries through digital literacy, education, and financial independence. She earned her bachelor’s degree in computer science from Herat University and later a master’s from Technical University of Berlin in Germany. After obtaining her master’s degree and returning to Herat, Forough became a professor of computer science at Herat University, her alma mater, where she worked for almost three years. Before founding Code to Inspire in January 2015, Forough was also a co-founder and board member of Women’s Annex Foundation. Now known as Digital Citizen Fund, this organization is a non-profit that teaches girls and women digital literacy and works to provide access to technology and the internet to girls in developing countries. Code to Inspire (CTI) opened the first all-female coding school in Afghanistan in November 2015. CTI, based in Herat, is a non-profit, one-year program. Women and girls in the program are typically between 15 and 25 years of age. Forough saw a need for an exclusively female coding school when she herself was studying and faced discrimination from male peers. She set up an IndieGoGo and was able to raise over $22,000 USD to help fund the coding school. CTI also received funding from other organizations, such as the Malala Fund and GitHub, as well as 20 laptop computers from Overstock.com. The goal in establishing CTI was to allow girls to learn valuable technological skills in a safe, comfortable environment. These girls are also able to build their resumes, which can lead to greater job opportunities after graduation. More advanced students learn how to create mobile apps and educational games, while those less experienced learn the basics of coding as well as other technological skills, such as how to use social media. In 2016, CTI was the recipient of University of California, Berkeley‘s CITRIS Athena “Next Generation Engagement Award.” In the same year, CTI was awarded Google’s RISE Award, which granted the organization $25,000 USD. Forough has voiced her desire to open new branches of Code to Inspire in other cities in Afghanistan, as well as in countries throughout the Middle East and Africa.