Inspiring stories of Afghan girls

But in may other parts of the world girls have to fight for the right to go to school. 

A new series of portraits of female pupils at two schools in Afghanistan has highlighted the battle that young girls face to be given the right to learn basic skills like reading, writing and arithmetic, and the power that has to transform their lives. 

Photographer Simon Urwin interviewed young girls and their mothers at a school in Kabul, which teaches equality, tolerance, and human rights, including women's issues, alongside traditional academic subjects like maths and science.

He also spoke to students at a separate school in the city, which educates street-working children and their families.

The girls gave first-hand accounts of the struggles they faced just to be allowed to attend the schools and the battles many of them had in order to be able to buy enough food every day for their families.

The collection of pictures were organised by Sarah Brown's initiative A World At School, which is petitioning world leaders to ensure they keep a promise they made in 2000 to get every girl and boy into school and learning by the end of 2015 - sign the petition here. 

Girls Stand #UpForSchool is focused on the 31 million girls currently denied an education, with at least two-thirds of these girls never expected to enroll in school, and over 500 million girls dropping out before completing their basic education. 

(dailymail.co.uk)