How a song became a movement for Afghanistan’s women and girls — with International Children’s Peace Prize winner Nila Ibrahimi

In March 2021, Afghanistan's Taliban rulers banned female students over the age of 12 from singing in public. The prohibition sparked a wave of online protests across the country, with women and girls posting videos of themselves singing, using the hashtag "I am my song". Aged just 14, Nila Ibrahimi's song, Boro Bakhair Ba Maktab or "Go to school" became an anthem of the movement.

The 2025 Gandhi Oration was recorded at University of NSW Centre for Ideas on 2 October 2025.

Speakers

Nila IbrahimiAfghan refugee, advocate and activist, co-founder and president Herstory, winner of the 2024 International Children's Peace Prize, university student

Verity Firth (host) Professor of Practice at the School of Education, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, Vice-President Societal Impact, Equity and Engagement, University of New South Wales, former New South Wales Minister for Women and Minister for Education