SOCAP11 Social Entrepreneur Spotlight: Saba Gul, BLISS (Pakistan)

What problem are you addressing? Why should people care?
Imagine, as a teenager, laboring 14 hours a day for survival, leaving no time for school. Imagine, with no skills or education, accepting this life for your future generations. This is the reality for over 4 million Pakistani youth. Out of the world’s 130 million out-of-school youth, 70 percent are girls—parents with limited resources prefer to educate their sons, retaining their daughters’ contribution to family income. Unable to forego the wages from their work, and unable to escape poverty without an education, these girls are stuck in a cycle. They remain illiterate, unskilled, oppressed, and poor.
Investing in a girl’s future is the smartest investment possible—the world cannot escape poverty without harnessing the potential of the 600 million girls that live in the developing world today. Girls who get an education get married later, have fewer and healthier children, are more likely to educate them, and have a fair chance at earning an income that they will reinvest in their families and their communities, thus lifting them out of poverty.