Educate Girls Wins The EdelGive Social Innovation Honours 2011

Online, February 23, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Educate Girls has been awarded with the EdelGive Social Innovation Honours (ESIH 2011) for its outstanding achievements in improving girls' enrolment, retention and academic performance in Government schools in Rajasthan.

EdelGive Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Edelweiss Capital Ltd. today announced the winners of the Third EdelGive Social Innovation Honours 2011 in the areas of Health and Well-Being, Education, Livelihoods, Governance and Social and Cultural Rights of women. ESIH 2011 aim is to identify and reward organisations that are innovating to empower women in India. The objective is to showcase and support organizations with unique approaches to tackle challenges that women face in our country.

Educate Girls has won this year's award for the significant improvement in girls' enrollment, retention, and academic performance in government schools by leveraging existing community and government resources in the State of Rajasthan. According to Ms. Safeena Husain, Executive Director, Educate Girls, "Girls' education is the greatest investment our country can make today. Educate a girl and birthrates fall, familiy health improves, household income rises, political extremism and violence decline. Moreover, literacy accelerates as an educated mother is five times more likely to send her children to school."

The winners have been selected from a pool of 235 participants across India. The selection process involved a four stage evaluation process supported by Ernst and Young as process advisors and official tabulators and included an initial application, short listing by an internal jury, visits by field assessors from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and final selection by an external jury of prominent members from the corporate, media and social sectors. The jury panel this year consisted of Chandra Iyengar, ex civil servant, Kalpana Sharma, independent Journalist, Mala Ramadorai, musician and teacher, Roopa Kudva, Executive Director CRISIL, Shoba Narayan, writer and journalist, Varun Sahni, Director Impact Investment Partners, Venkat Ramaswamy, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Edelweiss Capital Limited, Zia Mody, leading corporate lawyer and Founding Partner of AZB Partners.

Educate Girls, a project of Foundation to Educate the Girls Globally (FEGG), is a Mumbai based non-profit organization founded in 2007 that works towards promoting the educaton of girls in developing countries through community ownership of government schools.

For further details please contact:
Nadine Haegeli
+91 (22) 26303555
[email protected]