Daily Times

SOC Films has released the “Siyani Sahelian – Advancing Action of Adolescent Girls” documentary on YouTube.

The documentary highlights SOC Films’ collaborative flagship program with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi focusing on girls’ education in South Punjab.

Launched in March 2018, ‘Siyani Sahelian’ is a programme which aims to tackle gender inequality for disadvantaged out of school adolescent girls in three districts of South Punjab, including Muzaffargarh, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan. To-date, the program has empowered 36,000+ out of school adolescent girls in South Punjab through post primary opportunities for learning gains, Technical and Vocational Education and Training, livelihoods and life skills.

“With this programme, we have had a chance to work closely with young girls who face severe socio-economic challenges. In a span of just three years, we have been able to enable, and empower these girls by teaching them life skills so they have the ability to stand on their own two feet. Our documentary chronicles this journey and highlights the impact Siyani Sahelian has made in their lives. I still believe that these girls, if educated and empowered, can be the backbone of Pakistan’s economy.” said Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

‘With this programme, we have had a chance to work closely with young girls who face severe socio-economic challenges. In a span of just three years, we have been able to enable and empower these girls by teaching them life skills so they have the ability to stand on their own two feet,’ Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy says

Enabling 18,000+ dropped out girls in phase 1 spread over a period of twenty-five months and 15,000+ dropped out girls in phase 2 spread over a period of fourteen months, the Siyani Sahelian documentary highlights the program’s three strands of empowerment:

REMEDIAL/ACCELERATED LEARNING — this strand is being offered at all three district hubs and 415 partner community schools in hard to reach areas in district Bahawalpur, Muzaffargarh and Rahim Yar Khan, creating opportunities for extremely vulnerable girls to obtain education/vocational skills, such as victim of early marriage, minorities groups and adolescents with minor physical disability.

VOCATIONAL SKILLS & LIVELIHOODS — these three-month courses, certified with NAVTTC/TEVTA, aims at equipping the girls with skill sets that are high demand in their districts which they can monetize post-training, such as Domestic Tailoring, Machine Embroidery, Beautician, Word Press, Poultry Farming, Kitchen Gardening, Handicraft, Khussa Making, Chunri Making, Fabric Paint and Gota Kinari.

LIFE SKILLS BASED EDUCATION & MOBILE CINEMA — this 60-hour program aims to equip adolescent girls with core life-skills intend to create a positive change in their attitudes and prepare marginalised girls for a better tomorrow. The program also raises awareness about the rights of women through a mobile cinema, workshop and documentary films in partnership with SOC Films and Girls Rising.

For the outreach of this collaborative program to over 60 towns and villages, SOC Films also produced short animated films – the first of which is released along with the Siyani Sahelian documentary, titled Civil Society and the role of Women. This film highlights the importance of female participation in society as they actively try and fulfil their civic responsibilities. The film also highlights the role of women and how they can effectively fight for their rights while suggesting a series of organisations and institutions that assist women in their search for a greater quality of life.

“Siyani Sahelian is a Second Chance Program for Girls/Women’s empowerment through education, life skills, edTech, and livelihoods in Pakistan demonstrating 100 per cent outcomes where girls were trained to film their own pathways to empowerment with the help of SOC Films who developed impactful animations on transformative themes and program videos on SS. SS is ready to scale up through partners in government and industry; there could be no better innovation for the country! Let’s Collaborate for Learning in Pakistan!” said Baela Raza Jamil, CEO Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi.

Indeed, SOC Films hopes to continue to implement sustainable community engagement programs to positively impact the lives of Pakistani youth.

Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi is a public trust constantly striving to promote education as a comprehensive process for human and social transformation.