Sakena Yacoobi

Victor "Global X" d'Allant
Former Executive Director, Social Edge

Sakena Yacoobi (see her picture with Muhammad Yunus) received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship for her work with women and children in Afghanistan. In this short interview, she tells Global X how fundamental an impact education is having on women.

She remembers the day she sat with 300 students ("All women!") to celebrate their graduation. Even though Sakena Yacoobi was with two men (her body guard and her manager), the women kept talking freely and didn’t even try to hide their faces as is the custom in front of men who are not close relatives.

She was so proud: "How much they have learned –they are now independent, self-sufficient, earning income, proud of themselves, famous!"

Sakena Yacoobi’s advice: "I listen to lots of stories –the women who share them are crying, they are weeping. But what I have learned is that rush, rush, rush is not going to work. You may save a life by listening."