OVERVIEW

The U.S. government is committed to improving access to workforce development, training and education for Afghan women and girls. Increasing education opportunities is vital to achieve greater female empowerment. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provides scholarship opportunities for young Afghan women to access quality education and training, which will enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the Afghan government by upgrading the skills and qualifications of female civil servants.

ACTIVITIES

• Provides scholarships to Afghan women to complete undergraduate and graduate degree at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) and American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) through the Department of State.
• Supports female employees in the Ministry of Finance and other Afghan ministries to complete the Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) program at AUAF.
• Provides 540 Professional Certification scholarships for Afghan women to complete professional certificates in business, accounting, and information technology at AUAF’s professional development institutes in Herat, Kandahar, Mazar-i-Sharif, and Jalalabad.
• Provides 720 scholarships to young women to complete their Bachelor’s Degrees at private universities across Afghanistan and 180 scholarships for Master’s Degrees in neighboring countries.
• Provides university entrance examination preparatory courses for 72,000 secondary school age girls to increase their competitive advantage for enrolling in a state university.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• As of March 2016, seven beneficiaries enrolled in degree programs at AUCA and seven enrolled at AUAF.
• As of January 2016, five MBA scholars began the second semester at the AUAF with a 3.2 GPA on average.
• As of January 2016, 22 women enrolled in the English Preparatory Class for the MBA degree program.
• Enrolled 180 female scholars to complete their Professional Certification in Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA), Financial Information Associate (FIA) and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM).