Women literacy initiative wins Unesco prize

Islamabad

The Citizens Foundation of Pakistan’s 'Aagahi Literacy Programme for Women and Out of School Girls' won the Confucius Prize of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation for Literacy-2017.

Unesco Director General Irina Bokova gave away the prize to Amna Wahid Khalid, executive adviser at the Citizens Foundation, and Assad Ahmad, CEO of the foundation, during a special ceremony held at Unesco Headquarter in Paris, said a press release received here.

The ceremony was attended by diplomats, Unesco delegates, members of the French civil society and media persons.

The Citizen Foundation of Pakistan received the award in recognition of its services for raising awareness and imparting basic literacy skills to the women and out of school girls through its special online digital platform.

The foundation is a professionally managed, non-profit organisation set up in 1995 by a group of citizens, who wanted to bring about a positive social change in Pakistan through education.

It is now one of the country’s leading organisations in the field of education for
the less privileged, running over 1400 schools with enrolment of around 204,000
students.