Though constituting almost 50% of the total population of Pakistan, women continue to be the marginalized sector in the society having been denied the basic rights and opportunities to develop and contribute productively. Ranked 135 out of a total of 177 countries in the human development index, Pakistan faces an uphill task to ameliorate its social indicators. Patriarchal setup in the society projects itself as a major hurdle towards the empowerment of women. Societal notions of the role of the women limited to the home, makes the women lose out on acquiring education which severely confines her mobility and decision making capacity. This also has spillover effects on the education of her daughters as well as the family on a whole, since the education of a mother has intergenerational benefits for the health as well as the education of the children.

In the year 2000, SEF initiated a program envisioning literacy leading to the empowerment of adult women. The Women’s Literacy & Empowerment Program (WLEP) was initiated in the areas of Malir and Manchar Lake with an aim to provide learners with opportunities for basic literacy and skills, awareness of women’s rights and open spaces to collectively identify and address communal and individual issues. Under this program, 42 Women’s Learning & Empowerment Centers (WLECs) have been established in addition to 2 vocational centers in Karachi and Sehwan.

Objectives
• To help create an enabling environment for women which facilitates in the process of empowerment;

• To facilitate in capacity building of program partners not only to ensure effective implementation of program activities but also for greater ownership of the program;

• To raise awareness regarding critical women issues at the community level;

• To establish and strengthen linkages with like-minded organizations, women-oriented initiatives and program stakeholders for sharing of experiences, ideas and resources. To encourage mutual learning whereby women share and reflect on indigenous experiences, cultural values and the good practices of the communities in different areas (medicine, food, skills, customs child rearing etc);

• To help women in learning multiple forms of literacy especially in providing contextually relevant learning material on issues like health, indigenous practices, child rearing traditions to add to the repertoire of local teaching-learning resources