PHILANTHROPIST
INVESTING IN MULTIFACETED, CIRCULAR INITIATIVES WHICH CREATE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
Firstly, Naza looks to sponsor educational programs that help girls to fulfil their potential.
This includes building schools in areas that have little or no access to education, such as the Gachsaran town of Kohkilooye and Booyer Ahmad in Iran, as well as renovating schools which were no longer safe spaces for children to learn.
She has also supported programs that ensure schools are fit for children to return to after the pandemic, in Gaza and Nigeria. It is essential to ensure that girls go back to school, after 94% of children were kept out of school during 2020. In some parts of the world, school closures do not translate to virtual schooling; for some girls it means going back to work and not pursuing an education altogether simply because the return on investment for the family is too little. In the worst-case scenario, it means becoming a child bride, to help the family survive.
Naza also looks to invest in inspiring educational programs with audacious goals.
She is a key supporter of GIGA, an initiative designed to connect every young person in the world to the Internet. She also supports The Afghanistan Girls' Robotics Club, and visited their remarkable squad in March 2020.
She chooses to invest in women as agents of change, because it’s a smarter, more impactful way to deliver change for everyone. When women are free to flourish and contribute to their communities and economies, everyone benefits.
Naza and her foundation S.A.G.E are dedicated to investing in multifaceted initiatives that can work in a circular model, and meet a number of the sustainable development goals at once.
One such example is Conceptos Plasticos, a first of its kind factory in Africa which recycles plastic into bricks to build classrooms.
Considering how interconnected and complex so many development challenges are, she has looked to support holistic, resilient and innovative solutions.
S.A.G.E Emergencies was created in response to the urgent humanitarian aid required as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Once the pandemic passes its peak, SAGE Emergencies will shift its focus to providing protection and financial interventions for people in vulnerable communities, who have been displaced by climate-related issues.
