June 18, 2012
SKOLL AWARDS FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
In 2006, Give2Asia entered into multi-year partnership with the Skoll Foundation to help identify nominees for its annual Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. Three Give2Asia grantees have won the award as a result.
Dr. Sakeena Yacoobi, Afghan Institute of Learning
Dr. Sakeena Yacoobi founded the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) in 1995 with a single $20,000 grant to build two schools for refugee Afghan girls living in Peshawar, Pakistan. Under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, AIL organized and operated a network of 80 underground schools that educated 3,000 girls across the country – an illegal and dangerous operation for everyone involved.
Now, AIL operates in the open and has impacted over 9 million Afghans through their schools, teacher training, nurse training, health education, and healthcare services. Dr. Yacoobi attributes AIL’s success in such a tumultuous region to its close ties with the community.
In addition to the Skoll Award, Dr. Yacoobi is regularly honored for her contributions to the development of Afghanistan. Already in 2012, she was honored with the German Media Prize, the World Children’s Prize and the Lotus Leadership Award.
Click to read more about AIL, Dr. Yacoobi and Give2Asia.
Sebastien Marot, Friends International
In 1994, Sebastien Marot founded Friends International and began working in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to improve the lives and opportunities of street kids. Since then, Friends has expanded its unique program of health services, education, employment training and social enterprise to Egypt, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Mexico and Myanmar.
Among Friend’s innovative programs are its job training classes in sewing, auto repair, food service industry, and cosmetology, which lead to employment at its social enterprises. Friends operates restaurants, home-based and shop-based manufacturing, and product lines for international and tourist markets.
Learn more about Friends International and Founder Sebastien Marot by clicking here.
Supporters of Visayan Forum Foundation rally to combat human trafficking.
Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, Visayan Forum Foundation
Visayan Forum Foundation was founded in 1991 by Cecilia Flores-Oebanda to end human trafficking in the Philippines. Visayan specializes in services for victims and their families including managing halfway houses at Filipino ports for victims intercepted by government authorities. In addition it undertakes advocacy and awareness campaigns aimed at lasting policy change to combat trafficking.
Through its partnerships with the port authority, national government, and shipping companies, Visayan rescues between 20 and 60 children each week. Learn more and donate to Visayan Forum Foundation by clicking here.
