BBC Dars — meaning "lesson" in both Pashto and Dari — is an award-winning educational initiative from the BBC World Service, launched in April 2023 to bring learning to children in Afghanistan who are unable to attend school, including girls aged 11 to 16 who have been barred from formal education.
I developed a youth-focused visual identity for the project, creating a new logo that will flex for additional languages, as well as an array of social templates, digital assets and event collateral.
The programme draws on the BBC's existing educational content, most notably BBC Bitesize, adapting it in subjects including maths, science, history, and IT for its target audience. Hosted by female BBC journalists, the half-hour show airs weekly on television, radio, and online platforms across Afghanistan.
Described by the United Nations as a "learning lifeline," it also incorporates short animated mental health films — produced in consultation with psychologists who have worked with children in conflict zones — to help young viewers deal with stress, displacement, and bereavement, and to find hope. Building on its success, the programme has since expanded with an Arabic edition aimed at children displaced by conflict in Sudan, Yemen, and Gaza, reaching audiences across the Middle East and North Africa.