In 1995, visionary entrepreneur Sakena Yacoobi founded The Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), just as the Taliban came to power. Her goal? To empower women and girls by helping them access education and health services through an organization designed and run by Afghan women. Fifteen years later, AIL reaches 350,000 women and children annually, and operates 42 program sites, including four health clinics and 38 education learning centers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Today, AIL uses World Pulse’s online community, PulseWire to bring Afghan women's issues to the international stage. From mentoring AIL teachers and students through PulseWire to making a donation, you can help Sakena and her team make a difference for Afghan women and girls.

Why the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL)?

AIL's holistic approach of teaching students through methods that promote critical thinking, problem solving, and the value of human rights, particularly women’s rights, has provided the basis of moving the culture towards self-reliance. AIL educates those with no access to education, trains teachers, provides basic health education to students and health care recipients, operates health clinics, and sends Community Health Workers into rural communities while promoting critical thinking, human rights, and leadership.

The Inside Story

AIL has provided education, training, and health services to over 7.1 million Afghans since 1995. AIL requires community participation in all of its projects to support its vision to have a society where individuals and communities can find ways of solving their own problems and the needs of their community. Believing that the best results are achieved when everyone is integrally involved, AIL works with community leaders in all aspects of the planning and implementation of projects. Utilizing this visionary strategy, communities now contribute 30%- 50% of the resources a project needs and AIL continues to strengthen community ownership of programs as a part of ongoing efforts toward sustainability.

What You Can Do to Help

To achieve its vision, AIL focuses on providing literacy, primary and secondary education, university classes, and teacher training for women and children across Afghanistan, and at the request of local communities, has integrated health programs into its work and now operates seven rural clinics. For ways you can support AIL’s programs, visit the links in the sidebar.

Connect with AIL PulseWire members:

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