Give2Asia Giving Forum

New York Times Reports on Efforts to Empower Unwed Korean Mothers

An article yesterday in The New York Times has brought attention to the plight of unwed mothers in Korea, and efforts to remove the stigma of being a single mother -- a stigma that causes many women to seek abortions or to give up children for adoption through domestic or international agencies.

Dr. Richard Boas is featured as an international proponent for this cause. Himself a parent of a now-adult daughter who was adopted from Korea, Boas is a client of Give2Asia. People can support local organizations in Korea helping to address this issue by giving to the Korean Unwed Mothers Campaign at Give2Asia. Click here to support unwed mothers in Korea.

Click here to read the article in The New York Times.

Give2Asia launches the Pakistan Humanitarian Relief Fund

Conflict between the Pakistan military and Taliban insurgents has displaced over two million people from their homes in the Swat, Malakand, Buner and Dir regions of Pakistan. The fighting has compelled millions of Pakistani men and women to leave their homes, belongings, livelihood, and even their identities behind. These internally displaced people are in dire need of food, water, supplies, shelter, and medical care. The majority of those displaced have moved to the cities of Mardan, Nowshera, Peshawar, Charsada and Swabi. Some have relocated with relatives or host families; a majority are in camps, while others have taken refuge in different parts of the country.

This is the worst displacement of people globally since the Rwandan genocide in 1994; and the largest in Pakistan since the historic partition of the South Asian subcontinent in 1947. Day by day, the number of displaced Pakistanis continues to mount and the current funds and assistance are insufficient to meet their needs. The camps have become over-crowded, and lack proper medical facilities and sanitation.

There is something you can do.

Success Against All Odds: Women's Education in Afghanistan

"Please teach our children."  This was the message that Dr. Sakena Yacoobi heard when she visited refugee camps in Pakistan and Iran during the Soviet incursion in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and before the rise of the Taliban.

Later in the early 1990s, when the Taliban came to power, many thought it would be safe to return to their homeland. What they found was a new regime, which distrusted the practice of teaching girls -- a practice suddenly negatively associated with the Soviet occupation. However, protected by the communities where she operated, Dr. Yacoobi safely entered Afghanistan -- and an Afghani woman herself -- and began teaching girls and training new teachers in an environment where such activities could lead to imprisonment or death.

Early this week, on Monday May 18, Give2Asia had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Yacoobi, founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning. Dr. Yacoobi is the president and executive director of this internationally recognized NGO, which grew out of her work teaching girls and training teachers during the Taliban's rule.  Today, AIL provides health care to women and children, teacher training for women, and educational support for boys and girls in Afghanistan. Despite the ongoing violence, her schools remain safe because of her respect for local traditions and partnership with the villages and towns where AIL operates.

Since 1995, AIL has been able to provide access to education and health care to an estimated 350,000 women and children every year. This NGO, still led and run by Afghan women, plays a major role in reconstructing the health and educational systems in Afghanistan today.

During her presentation to Give2Asia, Dr. Yacoobi spoke of conditions in Afghanistan when she was a little girl, watching women in Afghanistan receive poor or little medical attention, especially during stages of pregnancy. She was lucky to be able to receive a formal education in the U.S. and Europe, but she was always aware that she was one of the lucky ones.

Dr. Yacoobi is a 2006 Skoll Award recipient. This year Dr. Yacoobi received the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership for extraordinary accomplishment and bold, visionary leadership in the nonprofit sector. 

To learn more about Afghan Institute of Learning, check out their Web site at www.afghaninstituteoflearning.org. To donate to AIL, click here.

Development at Altitude: Women’s Empowerment in Nepal

By Charles Ostertag, Give2Asia

Fluttering and curling between the winds of China and India, the flag of Nepal flies as the only non-rectangular national flag on earth. The amalgam of two pennants from the previous ruling Rana dynasty, the flag's jutting edges and celestial figures aptly mirror a weather-pleated, atmospheric land rising from the monsoon-prone southern plains to the rearing walls of stone in the north. Since its inception in 1962, however, the Nepalese flag has bared witness to profound social change: the June 2001 tragedy within the royal palace left Nepal without a king or queen; a decade-long civil war resulting in over 14,000 casualties; and last year the newly elected Constituent Assembly voted to end the 240-year-old monarchy. Even though this flag now stands for a recently formed nation (Nepal was officially declared a democratic federal republic in May 2008 and the first president was elected in July 2008), it has not been without cost. Today, Nepal depends heavily on foreign aid, possesses the second-highest unemployment rate in Asia at 42% after Timor-L’Este (from 2004 estimates), and remains one of the poorest, least developed countries in the world.

With one third of Give2Asia grants in Nepal being made in the area of women’s empowerment, we have chosen to highlight three of the many excellent organizations we work with—Empowering Women of Nepal(EWN), Himalayan Healers and The Asia Foundation —all focusing on improving the quality of life, social status and opportunities for women. The missions of EWN, Himalayan Healers and The Asia Foundation are imperative. According to 2001 estimates, only 34.9% of Nepalese women can read and write, while statistics from the Asian Development Bank point to poverty and lack of job opportunities as the driving factors causing women to resort to commercial sex work.

Sakena Yacoobi Awarded Kravis Prize for Leadership

Claremont McKenna College and the Kravis Leadership Institute has selected Sakena Yacoobi, founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning, to receive the fourth annual Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership. The Kravis Prize, which carries a $250,000 award designated to the honoree's organization, recognizes extraordinary leadership in the nonprofit sector. Dr. Yacoobi was selected for her outstanding record providing an estimated 350,000 women and children with access to education and health care each year.

Sakena Yacoobi and the Afghan Institute of Learning

   Sakena Yacoobi has spent the last 28 years providing education, training, and health care services to women and children in Afghanistan and Pakistan. One of her enduring contributions is focusing attention on the issue and importance of girls' education in Afghanistan. She has received funding from Give2Asia since 2003.

Dr. Yacoobi's achievements demonstrate significant courage and persistence in the face of extensive obstacles to educating girls and women in Afghanistan. During the Taliban's rule, for example, the education of girls was prohibited. Dr. Yacoobi and the staff of AIL too great risks in operating 80 underground home schools for 3,000 girls during the 1990s.