Education is a fundamental right, and a matter of justice. Girls' education and women's leadership is also key to tackling our most pressing global challenges.
Education is not freely available to everyone – and in many parts of the world girls are the first to be excluded from it.
CAMFED believes that every child is entitled to a quality education in a safe environment, and to a life as an independent adult. With access to education, women can do amazing things: launch climate-smart businesses, become health workers, run schools, and lead governments, making the world a better place for everyone.
Poverty is the greatest barrier to accessing an education
The odds are stacked against girls from disadvantaged, rural communities in Africa: 95% never complete secondary school. (The International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity The Learning Generation Report, p. 142, Note 36)
When families lack the income for food, transport, school fees, uniforms, and essentials like menstrual products, girls are the first to drop out of school. They are the first to be failed by the system, facing the perils of early marriage, early pregnancy, and abuse. Without the choice to write their own futures, their endless potential is wasted.