We're incredibly proud to announce our partnership with CAMFED: Campaign for Female Education! CAMFED is working to achieve gender equality, social justice and a safer, healthier, more prosperous world. We want to highlight the amazing work they're doing and bring their stories to you at Qissa.
We are so pleased to introduce you to CAMFED, the first of our charity partners here at Qissa!
CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education) is a pan-African movement, revolutionising how girls’ education is delivered. First established in 1993 in Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom, CAMFED began by providing secondary school scholarships for a group of 32 girls in the village of Mola. By 2022, CAMFED had supported more than 5.5 million children in Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. CAMFED’s unique model means that each child they support goes on to support other children in the community, with the help of schools, parents, governments and community leaders. CAMFED is tackling everything from child marriage and gender inequality to youth unemployment and climate change.
Understanding the importance of education, CAMFED provides financial and social support for marginalised girls to attend and thrive in primary and secondary school. Post-school, CAMFED provides business training, finance, and support for young women to access higher education and employment opportunities, so that they can safely transition to a secure and fulfilling adulthood. Those joining the CAMFED Association, its pan-African peer support and leadership network, commit to mentoring and supporting each other, as well as the next generation, as they grow into respected role models in their communities, working to secure every child’s right to go to school, and change the status quo for girls for good.
52 million girls are currently out of school in sub-Saharan Africa (primary and secondary school age). This is a shocking figure, but CAMFED is making huge strides in its almost 30 years of work in the area. In 2021 alone, 250,000 girls were supported through donor funds and over 590,000 were supported by members of the CAMFED Association; leaders educated with CAMFED support. The CAMFED multiplier effect shows that every girl educated through the programme goes on to support at least three more girls.
If you haven’t already, then please do sign the #CAMFEDsisterhood pledge to support girls’ education. Over the next few weeks we will be bringing you more stories from the CAMFED team to showcase the incredible work that they do. In the meantime, be sure to check out CAMFED’s website, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Header image: Hawa (2nd from the left), who was once supported through school by CAMFED and then went on to join the CAMFED Association - she's now supporting other girls in her community
