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Organization	Women's Education Project
Region	India
Website	Website
Facebook	Facebook
Twitter	@Twitter
ProjectLeader	Zoe Timms

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WEP enrolls young marginalized women (ages 15 to 24) in our Leadership Academies, at grassroots NGO partners across India. Academy students learn to make informed choices for themselves and positive change in their families and communities. Within a spirited community of peers, they gain knowledge, skills, and an understanding of their opportunities. Alumnae receive scholarships to training and higher education before entering formal sector careers or alternative livelihoods.

Challenge

WEP serves young Indian women ages 15-24, daughters of families struggling to find daily wage employment. Part of the more than 87 million women and girls living in poverty who deal daily with water shortages, poor sanitation, debt, family health, domestic abuse and other debilitating issues. Young women who are valued primarily for their unpaid domestic work, and/or low wage earnings, are routinely pressured to quit school and enter early marriage.

Long-Term Impact

Pre-COVID alumnae surveys indicated 64% work in their first job in the formal sector. 2,200+ alumnae include teachers, accountants, receptionists, professors, computer operators, small business owners, and technicians - an agriculturalist, a lawyer and aspiring judge, and (our first student), a Bank Director. 100% married after 18; 75% credited WEP as the principal factor in securing employment and higher income. All have affected change in their own lives, their families and communities.