Education: A Right, A Lifeline, A Legacy

On 24 January 2025, Soroptimist International proudly joins the global community in celebrating International Day of Education, reaffirming our commitment to empowering women and girls through education at every stage of life.

This year, Soroptimist International has chosen life long learning as its theme, emphasising the vital importance of continuous education in promoting equality, resilience, and opportunities for women at every stage of life.

Enabling Access to Lifelong Learning

From the first steps in literacy to advanced professional training, Soroptimists around the globe are breaking barriers to education. Through innovative programmes and projects, we enable women and girls to thrive by ensuring access to:

• Vocational Training: Equipping women with practical skills for sustainable employment
• Adult Education: Offering literacy classes, financial literacy workshops, and technology training
• Leadership Development: Encouraging women to reach their full potential through mentorship and community engagement

Soroptimist International Federation focus:

Learn more about what is happening in each of the Federations to promote and enable access to lifelong learning for all women.

• Soroptimist International of the Americas
• Soroptimist International of Europe
• Soroptimist International Africa Federation
• Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland
• Soroptimist International South East Asia Pacific

Soroptimist International Foundation

Soroptimist International Foundation, in partnership with SI Club Lumière, has successfully supported 100 women displaced by the conflict in Mali to rebuild their lives through education and skills training. This transformative project empowered participants with literacy, entrepreneurship, and cooperative management skills, equipping them to create sustainable futures for themselves and their communities.

All 100 women passed proficiency tests in literacy skills in the Bambara language, food production techniques, and entrepreneurial and cooperative management. The training programme also included sessions on raising awareness of various forms of violence against women and girls, fostering empowerment and resilience.

The project was divided into three crucial stages:

1. Literacy Training: Participants focused on developing reading and writing skills, providing a strong foundation for further learning and self-sufficiency.
2. Food Processing and Production Skills: The women were trained in processing local products such as wheat, millet, corn, ginger, and garlic. The sessions covered vital techniques like conservation, storage, production cost calculation, and hygiene practices, enabling them to add value to locally available resources.
3. Cooperative Formation: The women came together to form a cooperative, pooling their collective knowledge to create a unified approach for sustainable production and income generation.

This project is a shining example of how providing education and life skills to women, even later in life, can help them recover and rebuild after crises.  We have some videos from four of the participants who state how the project helped them by giving them the confidence and skills to hope for a better future. Hapsa, says how the training  “symbolises more than learning” and represents hope and empowerment. She adds that the training will now enable them to “actively participate in society”.

Watch their testimonials here:

• Hapsa (opens in YouTube)
• Fatti (opens in YouTube)
• Habibatou (opens in YouTube)
• Fadimata (opens in YouTube)

Find out more about this project by reading our latest news story on this amazing initiative

Join Us in Celebrating Education

We believe education is the key to unlocking the potential of women and girls everywhere. Join us in advocating for lifelong learning by supporting our projects, sharing our stories, and celebrating the transformative power of education. Together, we can make every woman’s dream of learning a lifelong reality.