Thrive
Empowering Afghan women and girls with free, high-quality online education to build skills, gain knowledge, and create brighter futures.
About Thrive
Upon completion, participants earn certificates that strengthen their career prospects. Sahar Education and The Thrive Program are dedicated to empowering Afghan women through education, equipping them with knowledge and skills for a brighter future.
While the target focus of this program is women and girls inside Afghanistan, Afghan refugees and immigrants in other countries also qualify for this program. The partnership seeks to empower Afghan women across the globe!
Sahar Education, in partnership with the Thrive program, offers Afghan women and girls free access to high-quality online courses through Coursera. This program provides learning opportunities across various fields, including language learning, computer science, business, data science, and social sciences.
With flexible, self-paced courses available in both English and Farsi for many programs, participants can study at their convenience while gaining valuable skills to enhance their academic and professional growth.
The Thrive Program ensures accessibility with low-data options, allowing students to download courses and learn offline.
The Taliban has banned women from higher education.
In December 2022, the Taliban updated the ban on education to include universities, throwing out those students already enrolled and disallowing future students from taking entrance exams.
Two years later, far from returning to the previous policies or softening the ongoing gender apartheid, the Taliban banned women from studying nursing and midwifery.
The Thrive program includes higher education and health courses that are now one of the only avenues for girls and women above age 12 to pursue knowledge. Sahar Education has committed to enrolling at least 500 participants in 2025.
Students can apply online to join the program.
**This program is online so photos on this page are from past SAHAR programs prior to the Taliban shutdown and other events.
Change a Life
$1000 One Time Donation
Support this program with a one-time donation towards enrollment costs
$100 Monthly Donation
Sponsor future program development with monthly installments
$500 Yearly Donation
Support program expansion yearly with regular gifts