Children have the right to learn…

... but many children like Najeeba find their path to an education blocked. Forced to flee conflict in Afghanistan, Najeeba, 12, faced a dangerous journey, leaving behind everything she knew. Living in poverty as a refugee in Pakistan, she was out of school as she didn’t have the documents required to get a place.

Sadly, this is the story of many thousands of Afghan refugee children in Pakistan. Instead of going to school, they collect rubbish or shine shoes on the streets, hoping to earn some money.

Working on the streets is dangerous. They’re at risk of violence and abuse. Girls can be in danger of early marriage, and a continued life of poverty.

VSO volunteers like Salma are running learning centres in local communities, bringing out-of-school children back into the classroom.

Thanks to supporters like you, Najeeba attended Salma’s learning centre, where she caught up on her reading, writing and maths. She found friends, regained her confidence, and began dreaming of becoming a doctor. Now back in school, she’s building the future she deserves.

Najeeba is among the fortunate ones. But thousands of other children are still out of school and in danger of abuse and exploitation. It is not right. With your support today it can change.

How you can help a child go back to class to learn the skills that will transform their future.

Provide learning kits

You could help equip children to go back into class with a rucksack, pencils, sharpener, eraser and a writing book.

Equip learning centres with teaching materials

You could provide teaching kits for the VSO learning centres containing a whiteboard, markers, pens, a class register, folding mats, maps, puzzles and a globe.

Train more volunteers

You could help train more VSO volunteers to identify children who are out of school, bring them back to class, and teach them to read, write and count.

When I see destitute Afghan children on the streets, I want them to enrol with VSO so they too can study and find a better future” says Najeeba.

Education transforms lives. For children who have fled everything, it’s the only way out of poverty, early marriage, and exploitation.

Will you give a gift today to help children like Najeeba get the life-changing education they deserve? Every day counts.

Donate now

*Names have been changed to protect identities.

We value every gift that you give, and will always put it straight to work as quickly as we can. 

We value every gift that you give, and will always put it straight to work as quickly as we can. In 2023-24, 85p of every £1 you gave went directly towards tackling poverty worldwide.15p was spent on the day-to-day running of the charity and raising the next £1 so that we can help even more people this year.