Long time Channel Foundation grantee partner, Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, President & Executive Director, Creating Hope International and President & Executive Director, Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) delivered this year’s J. Jobe and Marguerite Jacqmin Soffa Lecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Oct 12th, 2021 at 4pm at the Alumni Lounge of the Pyle Center (the lecture was in person), 702 Langdon St., Madison, WI.

The title of the lecture was: “As Women Rise, So Does the Nation.”

The event was sponsored by the UW Human Rights Program, the Global Legal Studies Division, UW Center for South Asia, and the UW International Division.

Event Description: Women’s rights are human rights and essential to the advancement of any nation. Nations with protections for women’s rights are stronger and more prosperous. We can see, as women in Afghanistan gained rights, the nation became more prosperous and peaceful. With a population where greater than 60% of the people are under 30, they have spent their lives connected to the rest of the world, unlike Afghan people in the 1990’s. Demonstrations against undemocratic principles that violate human rights occur regularly, led by women not willing to be intimidated by guns in the hands of those they oppose. Afghan women wish to work and go to school, with the support of the young men who stand with them. The loss of human rights anywhere, leads to the loss of rights everywhere. The silence of the world regarding Afghanistan is discouraging and follows a global trend of the roll back of women’s rights that started in 2020.

This Event was free and Open to the Public but Registration was encouraged.  Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/soffa-lecture-with-dr-sakena-yacoobi-as-women-rise-so-does-the-nation-tickets-169654536285

Reception to Follow

About the Speaker:

Dr. Sakena Yacoobi is the President & Executive Director of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), an organization she founded in 1995 in response to the lack of education and health care that the Afghan people faced after decades of war and strife. Dr. Yacoobi is also the President & Executive Director of Creating Hope International (CHI). Dr. Yacoobi has established 352 Learning Centers, four schools, a hospital, and a radio station and TV station in Afghanistan and is the recipient of six honorary doctorates including from Princeton University. Each year, Dr. Yacoobi speaks at numerous events, conferences and at institutions such as the UN, Stanford University and Oxford University. Dr. Yacoobi particularly enjoys engaging with youth at schools, inspiring them to be globally minded citizens.