Non-fungible token company Bookblocks.io has partnered with a New York-based organization to help women in Afghanistan have access to education amid the Taliban takeover.
Bookblocks.io announced it would be releasing a non-fungible token, or NFT, on Oct. 5 with the proceeds given to Women for Afghan Women, an organization which helps provide women access to education and vocational training in both Afghanistan and the United States. The artwork, inspired by American author Louisa May Alcott, features half a woman’s face covered by a single butterfly wing with the quote “nothing is impossible to a determined woman.”
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in the 1990s, they banned education for almost all women and girls. History has practically repeated itself as the extremist Islamist group seized control of the government following the withdrawal of the U.S. military last month, only advising men and boys to return to school so far. The country’s Deputy Minister of Education Zabihullah Mujahidwhile has cryptically said the Taliban plans to give women and girls access to education “as soon as possible.”
“This is a generation that grew up hopeful and dreaming about their future through educational opportunities,” said Women for Afghan Women’s U.S. country director Naheed Samadi Bahram. “We are committed to serving Afghan women and girls in Afghanistan and Afghan refugees arriving in the U.S.”
According to Bookblocks.io, 100% of the money raised from the sale of the NFTs will go towards Women for Afghan Women, with a 5% residual for each subsequent sale. The company plans to mint 2,200 copies of the NFT in recognition of the reported 2.2 million girls currently unable to attend school in Afghanistan. The price starts at 0.025 Ether (ETH), or roughly $75.54 at the time of publication.
Related: Helping Afghanistan: Organizations currently accepting crypto donations
Afghan women, risking death, beatings, and imprisonment, have continued to protest the Taliban’s stance not allowing them to attend school, both through social media messages and in-person demonstrations. Code to Inspire, a school aiming to educate Afghan girls on coding and robotics, is continuing online classes as the situation develops.
