UUSC Joins Hands with New Partner Barakat

One of UUSC's newest program partners, Barakat, is an organization that creates educational opportunities for women and children in Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. What began as a weaving project in the late 1980s has since developed into an innovative strategy for helping local communities shape their own future.

After the attacks of 9/11 and the U.S.-led ousting of the Taliban, the global community was appalled by the plight of girls and women in Afghanistan, who were being denied their basic rights to participate in civil society and receive an education.

Education is the most viable way to teach and talk about human rights, especially women's rights, in a society where the roles and contributions of girls and women are limited, even though they are now protected by national and international law.

Barakat's programs in Afghanistan are an attempt to fill the void and expand opportunities for girls and women. Barakat's educational programs include schools, literacy programs, and women's empowerment programs.

"Children, young girls, married women, and widows attend these courses," explained Barakat's Executive Director Damon Luloff. "Though diverse in age and life experience, all the students have a common aim and a strong appreciation that they have a chance to receive an education, which is so often and all too easily denied to other women and girls."

In particular, UUSC supports Barakat's efforts to raise awareness about citizens' constitutional guarantees concerning human rights, women's rights, and civil liberties. To achieve this, Barakat provides human-rights training to Barakat School and Literacy Course teachers, who can then introduce these topics in their classrooms.

With your support, Barakat's literacy program will continue to nurture change, building a society in which men and women regard themselves as equal and treat each other accordingly.

Barakat's Walk for Literacy, October 25, 2008

On Saturday, October 25, 2008, UUSC cosponsored a Walk for Literacy organized by Barakat to raise funds and awareness for their programs in Afghanistan. Proceeds went to Barakat's home-based literacy programs for girls and women in Afghanistan, which reach more than 750 girls and women.

The Literacy Walk began at Sennott Park in Cambridge, Mass., with a speech by Karen Boatman, director of Boston University's International Education Development Program.

Project Noor, an affiliate of UUSC partner HAMSA, sent a group of local students to participate.