For her efforts empowering Afghan women and children through education, Sakena Yacoobi received the $1 million 2013 Opus Prize Award in Copley Formal Lounge on Wednesday.
“On behalf of the women of Afghanistan and on behalf of the children of Afghanistan, I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Yacoobi, the founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning, said.
Yacoobi said that she will use the money to organize symposiums that will foster dialogue among young Afghanis.
“With this generosity, I can do things that were my dream,” she said. “My dream was to work with young men and young women in Afghanistan to create an environment where they can come and sit together and have an ideation symposium.”
The annual prize awarded to a faith-based humanitarian initiative is now in its 10th year. The award is funded by the Opus Prize Foundation, which chooses a partner university each year to aid in selection and provide a venue.
“The foundation is excited for Georgetown to host the 10th year of the Opus Prize,” Don Neureuther, spokesperson for the Opus Prize Foundation, said. “The university’s commitment to its Catholic identity, interfaith dialogue, service to others and educating the next generation of global citizens makes it a great partner for this unique and special prize.”
Two other finalists joined Yacoobi in the receipt of prize money. The Fahmina Institute, based in Cirebon, Indonesia, and Sister Carol Keehan, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Catholic Health Association, each received $75,000.
“For the major prize winner, there is a lot that can be done,” said Fr. Daniel Madigan, S.J., who visited the Fahmina Institute after it was announced as a finalist. “For the other finalists, not so much can be done with the money, but being a finalist in this prize gives them some standing in the eyes of other donors.”
The prize is one of the largest humanitarian prizes focused on faith.
“I think the world desperately needs more interfaith efforts and understanding so we do not let people use religion to divide us,” Keehan said.
“The essential goal is to engage and inspire students, those who must carry this work forward,” Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs Assistant Director for Programs Melody Fox Ahmed said. “It is a call to service and an inspiration, a graphic illustration of what can be done in even the most difficult circumstances.”
For the past decade, the Opus Prize has solely been affiliated with Catholic universities.
“The family that created the foundation are deeply committed to the values of Catholic social teaching, and family members have attended many Catholic universities,” Berkley Center Senior Fellow Katherine Marshall said.
The three finalists were on campus for two days, participating in a Student Leadership Breakfast on Tuesday, giving guest lectures in certain classes, like Madigan’s course “Exploring the Quran” and attending the awards ceremony Wednesday.
Keehan expressed her hopes that Georgetown students would join in these faith-based service projects.
“I hope Georgetown students will see the tremendous needs, the suffering of so many that is needless and dehumanizing and their potential to make such a difference,” Keehan said.