Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL)

With a staff of 470 people, 83 percent of them women, AIL annually provides health and education services to 350,000 Afghans in Pakistan and in the Afghan cities of Kabul, Herat and Mir Bacha Kot. During the Taliban years, AIL ran 80 underground schools as well as mobile libraries in four Afghan cities.

The NGO operates Women's Learning Centers where women can receive health care and where they participate in educational, health, human rights and skills training classes. It also supports home literacy classes and educational institutions from preschools through secondary schools and recently opened a women's university in Afghanistan.

AIL has been recognized by the international community for its success, receiving the Bill Graham Award from the Rex Foundation and the Peacemakers in Action Award from the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding.