DUBAI // A not-for-profit organisation that has helped hundreds of thousands of girls to get an education is appealing for investors in the UAE.
Since 2002, Educate Girls Globally has helped more than half a million girls in India, but as its work continues to expand, it is looking for potential supporters in the Emirates.
“Our main focus is to give girls the opportunity to have an education, no matter what their financial or cultural background is,” said Anjula Tyagi, executive director of Egg.
“Girls have an absolute human right to education but in many parts of the world they just don’t get the opportunity.
“For the equivalent of US$4 (Dh14.6) a year, a girl in India can be given an education and taught important life skills that will help her to join the workforce.”
Egg works in partnership with regional and state governments, which pay for up to 40 per cent of its costs of school programmes. The long-term aim is to reach one million girls around the world by 2020.
“We face significant challenges because in many cases there isn’t the political will,” said Ms Tyagi.
“But it’s not just a case of the girls going to lessons in classrooms. We also work very hard within the communities themselves and sometimes it can be very difficult to overcome the cultural aspects about educating girls.”
Egg does not build schools. Rather, its focus is to train teachers, school management and the wider community on the benefits of educating girls and women, she said.
“The longer term aim is to make these areas self-sustainable so once enough girls have gone through their schooling and are playing a more active role within these communities, they get ownership.”
The UAE’s proximity to India and its large Indian expatriate community made Dubai the preferred choice in which to open a regional office.
“I’m hoping to meet with people over the next few days to try to raise awareness of the work we do and to try to get people to invest in some of our projects,” said Ms Tyagi.
These include work in Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and its latest project in Gujarat.
Investors are given the option to ring fence the money they donate to specific projects they would like to support.
“So if an investor wants to support the Gujarat project or wishes to donate to our planned work in Africa, then they can do that,” said Ms Tyagi.
“We estimate we need $250,000 to run the project in Gujarat and will be helping 36,000 girls.”
For more information on Egg, visit www.educategirls.org.
nhanif@thenational.ae
