Afghan Institute of Learning Empowers Afghan Women

Summary

AIL works to empower Afghans by expanding their educational and health opportunitites and by fostering self-reliance and community participation.

What is the issue, problem, or challenge?

Afghan women and children had no access to education for a decade. After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the Afghan Institute of Learning organized Educational Learning Centers (ELCs) to bring women life-saving healthcare and education. AIL helps local leaders start ELCs and decide where and what services to offer. AIL has requests for ELCs from many communities that have not historically been open to education for women. AIL now supports 44 ELCs in Afghanistan and refugee camps of Pakistan.

How will this project solve this problem?

AIL’s ELCs serve 350,000 women and children each year with medical and reproductive healthcare, health education, skills training, teacher training, leadership/human rights classes, pre-school through post-secondary education, and fast track classes.

Potential Long Term Impact

Because AIL is run by Afghan women and respectful of Afghan culture, conservative villages trust AIL to begin services for thousands of isolated women in dire need. Other NGOs and the Afghan government now use this model for women’s services.

Project Message

Our eyes are opened. Now we can read and write. Actually, now we have come to know the value of an educated person in a society. We thank AIL for enlightening rural areas with the lights of education.
- Salma, woman in a literacy class in a rural ELC

Additional Documentation

This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Excel file (projdoc.xls).

Resources

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