In an age in which some celebrities are born or created on account of trivial reasons, many real heroes and achievers often go unrecognised or do not receive the applause they deserve. In an era when some awards and their winners vie to justify and complement each other, an individual of Dr Sakena Yacoobi’s calibre ought to be considered an exception.
The founder and CEO of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), who has either directly or indirectly impacted the lives of more than 12mn  people, in her war and strife-torn country, may not have won a Nobel Peace Prize despite being nominated. The 2013 recipient of the Opus Prize, a Kravis Prize, Gruber Prize Awardee, a Skoll Social Entrepreneur, Schwab Social Entrepreneur, and Ashoka fellow was bestowed last week in Doha with the prestigious 2015 WISE Prize for Education.
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), the force behind the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), chairperson HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser and the jury deserve a big salute for honouring Dr Yacoobi, also the co-founder and vice president of Creating Hope International.
Popularly known as Afghanistan’s “mother of education”, Dr Yacoobi, 65, has spent two decades working persistently to rebuild her country’s education landscape, devastated by war. She has established four schools, a hospital and a radio station in Afghanistan as part of her mission. The recipient of five honorary doctorates from institutions including Princeton University, launched her activities in the early 1990s when she started working in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. A passionate educator herself, she trained teachers, opened schools for children and learning centres for women.
The Taliban rule in the mid-1990s, during which girls’ education was banned, did not deter Dr Yacoobi from her mission to provide education and health services to women and children, especially girls. She launched the AIL in 1995, with the primary objective to improve teacher training through innovation.  
AIL was also the first organisation to open learning centres for women in the country and continues to find innovative ways to provide literacy and vocational skills to girls and women.
Addressing the Summit, Dr Yacoobi urged world leaders who are superpowers to spend their money on books, schools and pens rather than on tanks, cannons and other weapons of war. She said that world leaders should follow in the footstep of HH Sheikha Moza for investing heavily on education.
“I believe what you are doing in WISE will help the world. In giving recognition to education, you will bring peace and we need peace because many people suffer from war, conflicts, poverty, and health issues,” Dr Yacoobi noted. She observed that every leader in every nation should address the root cause of poverty which is the lack of education. “If every child goes to school today, there will be no war in the world.” Are the leaders listening?