Afghan Woman Receives Global Award!

Sakena Yacoobi, Founder and Executive Directory of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL)

Today in Boca Raton, Florida, Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, the Executive Director of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), received the inaugural Enterprising Women’s 2011 Global Women’s Hall of Fame award. Dr. Terry Neese, Founder of The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women, presented Dr. Yacoobi the award at the 9th Annual Enterprising Women of the Year Awards Celebration.

“I nominated Dr. Yacoobi for this award due to her long time efforts to empower women and communities to bring education and health services to poor rural and urban girls and women, as well as other disenfranchised Afghans,” said Dr. Neese.

“Her organization was the first to offer human rights and leadership training to Afghan women in the 1990s. She is an inspiration to Afghan and American women. Her visionary work is an example to everyone that women can persevere through the most challenging times to help build their country and educate their people.”

Dr. Yacoobi was honored. “This is both an honor for me and an honor for the women of Afghanistan who are creating new lives for themselves through their pursuit of education, their creativity, and their drive to succeed under the most difficult of circumstances,” she said.

“When women gain knowledge and have new opportunities for bringing some kind of economic security to their families, they become more valuable in the eyes of others and then see that value in themselves. Thank you for honoring all of us.”

Dr. Yacoobi at the awards ceremony. Photo courtesy of Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women.

About Dr. Sakena Yacoobi

Dr. Sakena Yacoobi is Executive Director of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), an Afghan women-led NGO she founded in 1995. Established to provide teacher training, education and health services to women and children, over 8 million have benefited from AIL’s programs to date. AIL was the first organization to offer human rights and leadership training to Afghan women in the 1990s. AIL supported 80 underground home schools for 3000 girls in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime. AIL was first to open Women’s Learning Centers for Afghan women – a concept now copied by many organizations throughout Afghanistan.

For more on AIL, check out: http://www.afghaninstituteoflearning.org/

About The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women

The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women is a 501(c)3 non-profit empowering women to grow their businesses, pursue greater entrepreneurial ventures and become more active public policy advocates. The Institute accomplishes this mission by focusing on education, mentorship and coaching women in the United States and abroad who are seeking to acquire entrepreneurial skills to help start and grow a business. For more info, visit http://www.ieew.org

March 11, 2011 · admin · No Comments
Posted in: Education, Health News, Human Rights, Women's Rights