The Asian University for Women readies students for leadership roles
The Asian University for Women provides education for those not allowed to study elsewhere
Nobel Peace laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai was barely of school age in 2001. when Kamal Ahmad came up with the idea of establishing a tertiary institution for women in Asia.
More than a decade later, the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Chittagong, Bangladesh, has seen more than 100 graduates pass through its doors poised to make a difference in their developing societies. About 20 per cent have gone on to postgraduate studies.
With its aim of nurturing women leaders, the university has been supported by individuals, corporations and charitable organisations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ikea Foundation and, in Hong Kong, the Victor and William Fung Foundation.
The university's success cannot hide the fact, however, that many girls in the developing world are still deprived of the chance for an education. Malala gained attention worldwide because of her bold resistance to the Taliban's attempts to deny girls access to education in her home country of Pakistan.
Since it opened in 2008, the AUW has offered possibilities for talented, aspiring women regardless of their economic background, nationality, religion or language.
As founder and president, Bangladesh-born Ahmad, 50, divides his time between Chittagong and Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the US. Ahmad had attended Harvard University and was previously a lawyer in the state of New York.
