Promoting education for all in Quetta

About the project

Pakistan is a pluralistic society with myriad of religious and ethno-linguistic identities. While freedom of religion is constitutionally protected, discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities is an ongoing challenge. Government initiatives have attempted to address this, however more focused attention on remote communities and young people is needed.

Minority Rights Group International (MRGI), Human Friends Organisation (HFO) and Strengthening Rights and Equality by Empowering Teams (STREET) will together work with young people in schools to promote cultural respect and understanding. This project is promoting inclusive practises in communities and schools in Quetta, through the use of storytelling and theatre. Actor-activists are using story-telling and theatre to lead discussions on inclusive practices in schools through performance, guiding young people as they develop their own creative outputs on diversity and tolerance. The project is also supporting teachers to challenge discrimination in schools. In order to reach the wider community, performances will take place at festivals, focusing on the need for inclusive societies and the adverse impacts of discrimination

The project is also facilitating communication with local and national governments on the regional need for policy and practises that are more inclusive of minorities.

By the end of the project, it is hoped a generation of young people will have a better understanding of the importance of inclusion and be champions of these practices in the wider community.

Endorsed project title: Promoting education for all in Quetta, Pakistan. Photo: Flickr CC DFID Girls in school in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan