When you are a girl, growing up surrounded by war and violence in a country like Afghanistan, it’s hard to study and finish your education, due to social barriers and sexual discrimination, one young Afghan has told UN News.

But a new online learning app is helping break through some of those barriers, allowing girls to learn about topics that enable them to feel confident, and to create business models that are more inclusive.

That’s the experience of Madina Walizada, based in the capital Kabul, who’s been describing her path to becoming a young woman entrepreneur in her country, partly thanks to the “Educate All” initiative, which is looking to provide free educational training for people around the world.

It’s the result of an innovative partnership between the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the mobile learning system, EdApp.

Ms. Walizada spoke Via Skype to Julia Dean, from our UN office in Australia.