Chair's statement
Our mission is to reduce poverty and improve lives. In Pakistan, there are families who cannot put two meals on the table, never mind send their children to school. Those are the families we want to reach first. By giving the most needy access to primary education, we open a door that poverty has kept closed for too long.
Our work has two focus areas. The first is education. Together with our partner on the ground, IRM Islamabad, we will support the setting up of Smart Schools, with a special effort to include young girls.
The second is enterprise and entrepreneurship. We want young people, and especially girls and women, to gain the training and confidence to start their own businesses, including through e-commerce. Our aim is not handouts but self-sufficiency, helping individuals and communities to stand on their own feet with dignity, hope and purpose.
Education is not only about acquiring knowledge. Knowledge enlightens, but education transforms lives.
Working with IRM Islamabad gives us the network and local presence to deliver effectively, and I am grateful to everyone who has supported us so far.
"I invite you to join us on this journey. Together, we can turn opportunity into lasting change. Thank you."Amina Nabi, Chair, IRMI Foundation
Charitable purpose
Everything IRMI Foundation funds sits under one of these two charitable purposes.
Low-cost primary schools inside the communities that need them, for children with no government school within 3 km. Each one is taught by a trained local woman, and more than half the pupils are girls.
Two months of practical training for women from the poorest households, including widows and women with disabilities, so they can earn a living through e-commerce and their own small businesses.
How we work
IRMI Foundation raises funds and sets the direction. IRM Islamabad, the Institute of Rural Management, runs the schools and the training on the ground, with more than 32 years of experience in Pakistan's poorest communities.
Skills and schooling that families keep long after the funding ends.
A special effort to bring girls into class and women into work.
Women teachers from the same communities they serve.
Hope and purpose for every child and woman we reach.
