WMD Commission Selects TCF-USA as Recipient of Proceeds from its Report

Chicago, IL (January, 2009) – The Citizens Foundation, USA (TCF-USA), a 501(c)(3) registered charity that funds schools for disadvantaged children in Pakistan, has been selected by the Congressional Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism to benefit from the sales proceeds of its report.

The commission, formed by the United States Congress after 9/11, recently issued its report and recommendations to the incoming President and Congress.

The report repeatedly stressed the importance of supporting education and other areas of social development in developing countries like Pakistan, in order to prevent them from becoming fertile grounds for extremism.  TCF-USA, which for years has funded the schools run by The Citizens Foundation (TCF) in some of Pakistan's poorest communities, welcomes this emphasis, which addresses the root causes of extremism.

TCF has built more than 530 modern school units across the slums and villages of the country, currently educating 65,000 students. It has also created a widespread infrastructure of teachers' training, providing employment to thousands of female teachers. Girls make up 50% of the students in TCF schools, a remarkable achievement given the overall rate of female literacy. TCF-USA is incorporated in Illinois.

You can read more on the Commission's report and its section on TCF by visiting http://www.preventwmd.gov/ report/ .

Excerpts from the Commission Report: 

“Yet festering economic and social ills in Pakistan have created a hospitable environment for radicalization, and the trends indicate that the challenge is growing. Pakistan's population is projected to double to nearly 300 million people by 2050, making it the world's fifth most populous

country. Over the next decade, food, water, and energy are likely to become scarcer. The UN Development Program's Human Development Report of 2005 gave Pakistan the lowest score for its education index of any country outside of Africa. Pakistan's overall literacy rate hovers between 40 and 50 percent. For women, the literacy rate is below 30 percent—and for women in the FATA, it is only 3 percent. Because teachers are poorly trained, Pakistanis are turning away from public education to attend private schools and madrassas, most of which offer religious

instruction rather than preparing youth to enter professions or trades”. 

“Any U.S. assistance should be designed to reach local leaders and entities as directly as possible, in order to strengthen civil society . Emphasis should be placed on developing infrastructure in border provinces: hospitals, roads, power plants, and school (with teachers who are well trained ). Such investments in physical infrastructure are easy to measure and monitor."

Copy of the report can be purchased through Amazon, Borders or Barnes & Noble.