CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH - Asian University for Women (AUW) and Tawakkol Karman Foundation (TKF) jointly announced a scholarship for 50 qualified young women from Yemen to attend Asian University for Women in Chittagong.

Starting this year, the scholarship expands AUW's mission to provide quality higher education for young women who are from conflict-affected countries, adding Yemen to existing student recruitment in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, and Palestine.

The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between AUW and TFK on Friday, May 12 was celebrated during AUW's tenth anniversary Symposium, entitled From Survival to Sustainable Development: Addressing Urgent Issues for a Just World.

The signing by AUW Vice Chancellor Professor Nirmala Rao and TKF Founder and Nobel Peace Laureate Tawakkol Karman , a Yemeni journalist and activist, strengthened the relationship between AUW and TKF, and inaugurated AUW's student outreach and recruitment in Yemen and its neighboring countries.

Remarking on this landmark partnership between AUW and TKF, Karman reemphasized that "I have always believed that education is the foundation for both development and peace. Thus, what Asian University for Women does is a significant contribution in this context. In order for women to play active roles in society and be able to overcome policies that marginalize and weaken them, they must be equipped with necessary education and qualification; these are nonnegotiable requirements. "

The following day, Tawakkol Karman gave the keynote address during the Sixth Commencement Ceremony of AUW. During the Ceremony, Chancellor of Asian University for Women Cherie Blair and Vice Chancellor Professor Rao bestowed upon Karman a Doctorate of Arts, honoris causa , for her prominent advocacy of democracy, freedom of expression, and women's safety and participation in the peacebuilding of her native Yemen. Karman is the first Yemeni, the first Arab, and the second Muslim woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

 

To read more click here