The Sakena Fund in collaboration with Lynn University’s Social Impact Lab

Background

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One of the most pressing challenges facing Afghan women today is the inability to access education and career opportunities. The absence of formalized education for an entire generation of half the Afghan population presents major challenges to the country's ability to progress, and innovative solutions need to be implemented to effect change.

WFI's Lynn University team has developed an online format and is working with our partners at iCohere to create the foundation for a virtual College Preparatory School in Afghanistan, catering specifically to women. It began in 2024 with the construction of a computer laboratory in Herat, fully outfitted for online learning. A cohort of 20 women is now ready to begin its first leadership training class, tailored specifically to the needs of Afghan women. Over the course of the next three years, WFI will work with Lynn University and its partners on the ground in Afghanistan to develop online courses and employment skills mentoring that enable Afghan women to become self-reliant and contribute their talents to the world.

These courses will consist of six field-specific majors designed to equip women with the skills and tools needed to join the Afghan workforce. The research has demonstrated that journalism, nursing, technical education training, entrepreneurship, political science, and physiology are the optimal career options for Afghan women in the near future. As such, these majors form the core of the curriculum deliverable. In addition, WFI is partnering with corporations providing mentorship opportunities and job networking. 

Given the current political and social insecurity in Afghanistan, this project takes into account the many challenges that will be faced in an ever-changing and often dangerous sociopolitical context, particularly as it pertains to women’s education.

Deliverables & Impact

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This project is expected to have a significant impact on the lives and futures of women in Afghanistan, and for the country as a whole. By allowing access to opportunities previously denied, and by providing a dedicated space in which women can thrive, this project will not only change the lives of women, but also the socio-political culture in which they live. 

As a deliverable, WFI's research partners at Lynn University have developed a practical, innovative curriculum for a potential women’s university or more comprehensive online education program, which is being reviewed by the Sakena Fund, our partner over the last four years, and the broadest educational nonprofit in Afghanistan with bases of learning across the country.

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Now, Women Forward International, Lynn University’s team, icohere, and the Sakena Fund will take our work to the next level: together with the women and men on the ground in Afghanistan and WFI's broad university network of leading research institutions, we will build access to online education leading to the first online international university for women in Afghanistan. Our prestigious global university community is poised to contribute to this endeavor. ​​