Ishraq for Girls

The Ishraq Project is a multi-dimensional social support and skill-building program for out of school 13-15 year-old adolescent girls. The program’s goals are to create safe spaces for girls to learn, interact, and grow while increasing their literacy and economic skills. It also seeks to influence social norms concerning girls’ ability and life opportunities while improving local and national decision-makers’ support of girl-friendly measures and policies. EMpower’s grant is helping build the social platform for the delivery of new opportunities for girls in such conservative settings. It is offering a series of interlocking opportunities: literacy classes, math and economics, life skills training, community involvement, citizenship and rights training, and team building through sports–and also draw parents, boys, and community leaders into the process of social change. EMpower also supports the social clubs for graduates of the Ishraq Project so they can serve as mentors to younger girls.