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The Power of Education: Sakena Yacoobi’s Hopes for the Women of Afghanistan

By Nina Carduner

Photo credit: Rodrigo Valenzuela

Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning, opened this year’s Global Washington conference with an impassioned retelling of her experiences working to bring education to the women and children of Afghanistan.

She described her own childhood in Afghanistan as happy and secure. They were poor, she said, but able to sufficiently provide for what they needed in their own country. She described a life where women and children could freely go from place to place, visiting neighbors and celebrating various holidays with other families. But now, the people of Afghanistan have been traumatized by forty years of war.

While completing her education in the US, she had supportive teachers, the ability to ask questions, and freedom of speech. But when the Shah invaded, she could not return home and her family became refugees. Still, she explained, her heart never left Afghanistan and she began a career in public health, remembering how few resources there were for maternal and child health was when she was growing up.

On a trip to an Afghan refugee camp, she was shocked by what she witnessed. She met women who had lost everything: their fathers, husbands, and brothers. They were left helpless and completely unable to do anything for themselves. “They were like animals. They felt less than human,” she explained. That’s when she realized that education was the solution to helping these women.

At that time, many Afghan refugee camps were in Pakistan, and she began going camp-to-camp to offer education. Many of the mullahs in the camps believed that education was not good for children, but over time, she convinced the mullahs to became teachers. In one year, the number of students she reached went from 300 to 27,000. Education in the camps was not just a critical need, but a clear desire for the refugees. But this presented a new problem, she went on. When children are traumatized by war, have never been educated before, and are mixed with other children of all ages, it can be very difficult to motivate them to come to school. She created a curriculum that would challenge these children and emphasize critical thinking skills.

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, schools were closed and women could no longer go out freely by themselves. Dr. Yacoobi knew she had to do something to bring her curriculum to the children of Afghanistan, but understood the risk and danger she was bringing on herself and colleagues. Through various creative methods, they were able to secretly open 80 underground schools. They also risked their lives to set up a mobile library traveling from school to school, hiding the books in sacks of flour and rice with three men acting as male relatives. Every time they traveled with the mobile library, she didn’t fear death but feared getting caught by the Taliban would mean the end of the entire program. Each class was only supposed to support 35 students, but they attracted over 75 students to every class. It was clear that Afghans would risk certain danger to educate themselves and their children.

Today, her schools teach over 3,000 students in rural Afghanistan and have reached 10 million people with a variety of health services, in addition to education. Their teachers receive training, materials, and salaries. The children her organization has educated have now grown up and can be seen in all levels of Afghani society. When people ask Dr. Yacoobi how she has done this work for the last twenty years, she always responds, “I love my country. I love my people . . . the Prophet told us in the Qur’an that women and men can learn side by side and they can be anything they want to be.” The women who benefited from her programs are also more empowered today because they aren’t just seeking basic education; they are also pursuing higher education. She continued, “the women of Afghanistan are not the same women they were five years ago. They have been oppressed for forty years, and now with education, they will not accept the treatment they experienced in the past. When children have mothers who are no longer helpless, they will succeed.”

Dr. Yacoobi closed, “if the tank and the gun didn’t solve our problem, I am 100% sure that the women of Afghanistan will.”

Obama Administration’s Second Term Aid Priorities: More of the Same?

By Anna Jensen-Clem

Following President Obama’s re-election on Tuesday evening, many are speculating on the Administration’s foreign aid priorities in the coming years. While the Obama Administration has not released specific details of its plan for foreign aid spending, the changing composition of the Senate, coupled with new aid initiatives in the next few years, means that we may see changes in priorities, distribution, and spending.

Before the election, both President Obama and Governor Romney released statements to the ONE Campaign detailing their plans for funding health and poverty initiatives; the president focused on “building on” PEPFAR, or the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. He also indicated that his administration would focus on funding for maternal and child health, food security, small farmers, and nutrition in the developing world. Specifically, he said his administration is “working with Africa’s people and leaders to responsibly invest in agriculture and increase productivity” in order to provide better food security, better health, and ward off pandemics.

The USGLC, in a brief paper released November 7^th, speculated on the Obama Administration’s policy priorities in the coming years as well, and concluded that development in Africa, lower vaccine costs, and lowering rates of infant mortality are among the chief issues the Administration plans to address in a second term.

Despite the challenges of complex foreign policy situations, the International Affairs Budget has strong bipartisan support, and Congress is expected to maintain support of the budget, even in the face of new fiscal and budgetary challenges in 2013. At this point, it appears that many of the Administration’s current foreign aid policies will continue in one form or another, but their exact composition remains to be seen. Devex reported yesterday that since the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress “is expected to focus on sequestration and budget cuts,” it is unlikely that we will see increases to the foreign aid budget in the remainder of 2012.

We will continue to watch and report on developments in the White House’s aid programs as they unfold.

Secretary Clinton praises $1 billion hunger pledge by InterAction members

At an event held alongside the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave praise and recognition to InterAction and its members for their continuing work to fight global hunger.  Clinton also announced that an alliance of 198 U.S.-based organizations have pledged more than $1 billion of private, non-governmental funds over the next three years to improve food security and nutrition worldwide.  “Global hunger is one of the most serious challenges facing our generation, but a strong commitment by organizations such as our members and the political will of governments can make a huge difference in tackling this problem,” said Sam Worthington, president and CEO of InterAction.

Through the support of thousands of smallholder famers and the sponsorship of more self-sufficient communities, InterAction’s members emphasize efforts that will provide better, more reliable nutrition for children. By providing the necessary skills and tools, farmers can produce healthier livestock and more nutritious crops, benefiting both the farmers and the local communities as a whole.

A strong commitment from both organizations and governments is needed to improve global health and fight under-nutrition.  As Worthington pointed out on Thursday, InterAction’s members compliment the efforts of U.S. Government programs, such as Feed the Future.  “NGOs’ private resources and strong local links complement the efforts of the U.S. government and others to meet development goals worldwide.”

The Obama administration is also looking to further their commitments and objectives in the field of global development.  On September 22, 2012 President Obama, without precedent from any prior U.S. administrator, signed a Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development.  The recognition of a global future, which focuses on American strength through development and diplomacy, is one important step towards a just and sustainable international order.  In this policy directive, President Obama pledges to focus U.S development efforts in a way that will maximize the impact of investments and policies, focusing on broad-based economic growth and democratic governance.  The United States will,

• Elevate broad-based economic growth as a top priority, ensuring that our investments and policies are guided by rigorous assessments of what the U.S. can do to help countries achieve sustainable growth.
• Increase the focus of resources, policy tools, and engagement in support of select countries and sub-regions where the conditions are right to sustain progress.
• Use U.S. leadership in the multilateral development banks, U.N. agencies, other international organizations, other donors, foundations, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and other stakeholders to deploy the full range of our development tools and policies at our disposal.

With the upcoming election fast approaching, the international community must take the initiative to know and understand the direction of U.S. foreign policy.  The recognition of global strength and prosperity must be fully realized no matter who represents the United States following this election season, and the relationship between the government and the non-profit sector must continue to flourish.  With increased cooperation and understanding between NGOs and the government, global development goals can be achieved more efficiently and effectively, a sentiment that was expressed by both Secretary Clinton and InterAction president and CEO, Sam Worthington.

For more information on InterAction and its members go to http://www.interaction.org/, and for the Fact Sheet: U.S. Global Development Policy in its entirety go to http://wh.gov/iLb.