Article
Education for Sustainable Development: How UNESCO Improves Community Climate Resilience through Literacy in Two Provinces of Afghanistan
Afghanistan, a landlocked country with diverse geography, faces significant challenges due to climate change despite its limited contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. The country is experiencing rising temperatures, unpredictable precipitation patterns, and glacial melting, exacerbating livelihood degradation, food insecurity, and large-scale displacement across the country. Combined with the decades of conflict, a complex humanitarian emergency, and an economic crisis, climate change is compounding vulnerabilities of millions of people in Afghanistan, where 80 per cent of the population depends on natural resources for their livelihoods (UNDP, 2024).
To respond to these urgent challenges, UNESCO employs the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) approach, equipping learners with the knowledge, skills, and agency to make informed decisions and take individual and collective actions to improve Disaster Prevention and Risk Management (DPRM) efforts. With Afghanistan’s literacy rate at just 37.3 per cent (22.6 per cent for women and 52.1 per cent for men), it is imperative for UNESCO Kabul to expand its Youth and Adult Literacy and Basic Education (YALBE) programme and through that community climate resilience.
Literacy is foundational for acquiring sustainable practices, disaster preparedness, and resource management. Higher literacy levels enable individuals to understand climate-related information. This understanding then allows communities to make informed decisions about disaster adaptation strategies and risk management.
With support from the Government of Japan, UNESCO Kabul implemented a YALBE project with a DPRM component in Khost and Paktika provinces between 2023-2024. The two Southeastern provinces were affected by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake on 22 June 2022, which took the lives of over 1,000 people and injured over 3,000 people.
“We were unprepared and vulnerable to natural disasters. We didn’t know how to protect ourselves.” said Jafar, a community leader from Shemal district in Khost province.
In alignment with the ESD for 2030 Framework priority action area 5: accelerating local actions, the project was specifically designed to empower communities in Khost and Paktika provinces to better respond to climate change related disasters.
UNESCO, through its local implementing partner, equipped over 100 community leaders like Jafar in both provinces with DPRM knowledge. Through training and community dialogue sessions, the participants learnt a wide range of topics including disaster preparedness plan, coordinated disaster response, and principles of sustainable recovery post-disaster. They then shared the knowledge with their community members to raise awareness and encourage positive actions that can protect their families from natural disasters.
"Now, we have the understanding to safeguard our homes and lives. It's like we have been given a new vision that can protect our future.” Jafar stated
Utilizing UNESCO’s literacy classes network in Khost and Paktika, physical copies of Information, Educational, and Communication (IEC) materials were developed and distributed to reinforce key messages to literacy learners. An information booklet on ways to prevent and cope with earthquakes, bushfires, tornados, and floods was developed and distributed to 216 literacy facilitators to integrate DPRM into existing teaching materials. Over 850 posters covering the same topics were distributed to over 6,500 learners (3,000 women) in UNESCO’s literacy classes.
To maximize the reach of the project, UNESCO Kabul also produced 20 television and radio programmes on disaster preparedness and community self-help practices, which were aired through two local television channels and four local radio stations, reaching approximately one million people. These programmes set to improve individual climate resilience, promote environmental stewardship, and encourage sustainable living practices.
Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of natural hazards in Afghanistan that can put additional socio-economic pressure on households due to further straining of resources. Women in Afghanistan remain disproportionately affected because of climate change, which exacerbates their vulnerabilities to food insecurity, malnutrition, and other health challenges due to restrictions from De facto Authorities (DfA) and socio-cultural pressure.
UNESCO, as the leading agency for ESD, reiterates its commitment to support Afghanistan to develop and expand educational activities focusing on sustainability issues such as climate change and disaster risk reduction. The five priority action areas of the ESD for 2030 Framework including 1) advancing policy; 2) transforming learning environments; 3) building capacities of educators; 4) empowering and mobilizing youth; and 5) accelerating local level action set to unlock concrete action for change and achieve a better future for all.
