How, you might ask, does girls’ education help the environment? Environmentalists and development experts alike agree that one key factor in preserving the health of the planet is educating girls and creating economic opportunities for women. Studies show that educated women marry and bear children later, and have smaller, more sustainable families: young women who have completed secondary school, for example, have 2.2 fewer children than those who have not.

Education promotes sustainability in other ways as well. Research indicates that educating girls boosts farm yields, and diversifies marketplaces—both of which are considered critical steps toward ending the current world food crisis.

Earlier this year, Camfed joined forces with a visionary nonprofit called Global Footprint Network to promote the importance of educating girls in a resource-constrained world. GFN has developed a tool to measure the human impact on the planet so that governments can make more informed choices about how we use our limited resources. In December, members of the Global Footprint Network team will share their knowledge with high school graduates in rural Zambia, when Camfed and Goldman Sachs launch their 10,000 Women Certificate Program in Young Women’s Leadership and Enterprise, which will help young women develop the critical thinking and problem-solving skills they need to become leaders in their communities. Watch for news on this exciting initiative in the coming months.

Read the full story here:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6a21dca4-b1da-11dd-b97a-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1

The aspiring journalist from Edinburgh was chosen from hundreds of entrants across the UK in the Guardian International Development Journalism competition, organised in partnership with Camfed and seven of the UK’s other leading development charities.

Elliot’s article, which focuses on girls’ education in Tanzania, will appear in the Guardian in November.

“Seeing Camfed’s work has made me realize what can be achieved by a charity that is not afraid to think carefully and seriously about what it is doing and how best to go about it,” said Elliot, who spent seven days visiting Camfed’s programs in Tanzania.

“I hope I’ve learned a bit more about development,” he said. “I certainly have a better understanding of just how much there is to learn and have had many of my views strongly challenged. I’ve also seen how powerful feminism in Africa can be – and glimpsed how important it might become as a driver for change.”

Elliot, who is studying English at Cambridge and is a past editor of the Cambridge student newspaper Varsity, is now more convinced than ever that he would like to pursue a career in journalism. He is one of 16 finalists in the competition: eight in the amateur student category, and eight in the freelance professional section.

Phoebe Greenwood, a freelance journalist from London, was chosen in the professional category to report on Camfed’s work helping young women in the Samfya District of Zambia to achieve economic independence.

The 16 finalists’ articles – and the name of the two overall winners in each category – will be published in the Guardian in two supplements on Saturday, November 22 and Monday, November 24.

The UK government’s Department for International Development helped to fund the competition to raise awareness about development issues.
Douglas Alexander, International Development Secretary, said: “This competition has motivated a new generation of journalists to write about issues relating to global poverty.”

Find out more about the competition

I asked a lot of people what they thought was so important about girls’ education – teachers, pupils, parents, officials from the Department for International Development (DFID), people in the Ministry of Education. Perhaps the best answer I received was from someone called Ma Rutta, who helps to identify girls who need Camfed’s support in Iringa. She said: “If a girl is educated she can make her own decisions rather than just letting her husband make those decisions for her. She can know ‘this will benefit me’ or ‘this will not benefit me’ and make her decisions accordingly. That’s why here we say: ‘Education for liberation!’”

Of course, it’s vital that Camfed’s work helps to address key development issues – HIV infection rates, child healthcare and gender disparity in education. I found Ma Rutta’s explanation so interesting because it describes, in a very simple way, how these challenges are best engaged with on the most human of levels – our thoughts, feelings and decisions.”

Presenting the award, Sarah Brown said: “Ann is a remarkable woman, whose modesty belies her immense achievements. Through sheer determination and perseverance, she has enabled hundreds of thousands of young girls in Africa to receive a proper education, transforming their lives and the lives of their children. And through the passion of her campaigning, she has helped ensure that the issue of girls’ education is now firmly and permanently on the agenda of the world’s leaders.”

Ann Cotton joins an impressive roster of previous award recipients, including Jasvinder Sanghera, who campaigns for victims of forced marriage, domestic violence and honour killings; and Zimbabwean human rights crusader Thabitha Khumalo.

“I am honoured to be among the remarkable humanitarians who have been recognised with this award,” said Ann Cotton. “The injustice of girls’ exclusion from education is a wrong that must be put right if the world is to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Girls, quite simply, have a right to education and in securing that right can transform their families and nations.”

Women of the Year Window to the World Awardees are nominated by the Women of the Year Council, which includes President Joan Armatrading, Chairman Gill Carrick, Eleanor Angel, Maureen Lipman, Mary Nightingale, Doreen Lawrence, Virginia Wade, Gill Sinclair, Ann Barr, Professor Trish Morris-Thompson, Glenys Kinnock MEP, Teresa Graham and Kay Brock.

Singer/songwriter and Women of the Year President Joan Armatrading said: “Each year it is an honour to invite women to join the Women of the Year Lunch and recognise them for the extraordinary things that they do.  Our thanks and tributes go to Ann, who continues to push boundaries and obstacles in her path for progress, understanding and change. She is a true inspiration to us all.”

Hear Ann’s reaction to receiving the award on Cambridge’s Star Radio:

Find out more about the Women of the Year Lunch

Read more about Camfed’s Ann Cotton.

Charity Navigator rates charities based on two areas: organizational efficiency, which shows how efficiently Camfed is currently using donors’ support; and organizational capacity which shows to what extent Camfed is growing its programs and services over time.

Charity Navigator’s mission is to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by assessing the financial health of America’s largest charities.

Read Charity Navigator’s full evaluation of Camfed USA.

Women and education: the heart of economic thinking

• “It’s 7am, and we’re driving along the main street of Iringa – a town eight hours’ drive from Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania…”(Read more)
• “So much change in so little time. They have big plans and the determination to achieve them…”(Read more)

In announcing the grant, Sally Osberg, CEO of the Skoll Foundation, described the impetus driving their new investments: “We have had the chance to work closely with our initial group of Skoll social entrepreneurs over the last three years, helping us better understand both what is most effective in driving systemic change and what these innovators need to be successful. The additional investments we’re making now show our continued support for the power of the social entrepreneurial model.” (more…)

Barbara Chilangwa, Camfed Zambia’s Executive Director and former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, describes a status quo that is recognized internationally: “Too often, when children report abuse, people say, ‘They are children, we cannot believe them’.  We want to convey to the community that children must be heard when they speak up, and that there are structures in place for reporting abuse.” The objective of the campaign’s community outreach, says Mrs. Chilangwa, is to make communities aware that they have the power and the responsibility to take action against child abuse cases. (more…)

The book aims to inspire budding social entrepreneurs by sharing concrete solutions for action – and demonstrating, through the stories of 27 people who had the courage and passion to act on their dreams, that everyone has the power to change the world.

In his foreword to the book, former Archbishop Desmond Tutu writes:

“The potential  . . . of individuals throughout the world to bring about positive change is enormous, and never before have we lived in an era so ripe with opportunity to make a difference.”

To order The Tactics of Hope, go to http://www.tacticsofhope.org/

Read an excerpt from the introduction: http://www.tacticsofhope.org/intro_toc#INTRODUCTION

Learn more about social entrepreneurship:

• Visit the Skoll Foundation website and find out more about the organization that awarded Ann Cotton the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2005
• Read an interview with Ann Cotton about social entrepreneurship in the Guardian.