A Letter from Pervez Sajad

"Dear Champion of Girls' Education,

Ten years ago, I left my career to take an unpaid job with Iqra Fund in Pakistan. I believed in their sustainable solution to the then-pandemic of out-of-school children infecting Pakistan’s most vulnerable children: girls.

I was born and raised in a remote village of Pakistan. I understood the complex and often corrupt public education system, and challenges with corruption in the charitable sectors. Iqra Fund’s plan was to do something no other organization had done: partner directly with each rural community and with the local government to build a sustainable education system where girls would thrive. 

I believed a new system needed to be created and that Iqra Fund had a sustainable solution. Iqra Fund would be a catalyst for a community’s success, without long-term dependency on continued Iqra Fund support. I took a huge risk to be a part of making the dream a reality. It has paid off. 

Ten years later, as the in-country Director, I have the incredible opportunity to report back to our donors that, because of your investments, our model is a proven success.

Not only have we been a leading organization in reaching out-of-school girls in some of the most hard to reach areas of Pakistan, but we’ve won the fight against corruption, and aided in the government becoming more accountable and responsible in providing educational services to underserved communities.

Our communities are gaining recognition by the government for their hard work and dedication to their children’s futures. And they are finally receiving what should be a basic human right for all of our children: access to government-provided primary school education.

While we celebrate these recent successes, we’ve only scratched the surface. The demand for Iqra Fund’s services is greater than ever. Due to limited and in many cases no availability of schools or teachers, we have only been able to reach a small fraction of the communities in need.

Entering our tenth year of operations, the stage is set to implement our model faster in new partnering villages and for those villages to grow their voice and ability to receive the government support they deserve.

Our waitlist of students and communities grows by the day. Without access to education, girls face early marriage and work in the fields. Communities will remain voiceless. 

We’re ready to help them. But first we need you.

On behalf of our entire Iqra Fund family, thank you!"

Pervez Sajad

In-Country Director