We're here to claim our rights. Education has given us that power.
We’re the CAMFED Sisterhood – girls and young women uniting our communities across Africa to make sure that every child has the right to go to school, learn, thrive and become independent and influential.
If you’re reading this, you’re part of our global movement. This October 11th, 2022, join us across our digital channels (@CAMFED) with the hashtag #EducationMyPower to celebrate the 10th anniversary of International Day of the Girl (IDG).
Day of the Girl is all about spotlighting the system-wide inequalities girls face – and exclusion from education is the biggest one.
We know how to solve that!
CAMFED has a model that really works, with young women once at the margins of society now leading the charge, inspiring and lifting girls in their communities, working together with our global supporters to secure every girls’ right to learn and lead.
I’m Melody, part of the CAMFED Sisterhood in Zimbabwe. Once supported in my education by CAMFED, I now lead on programs in Buhera District, working with other grads who deliver skills training, and social and material support to the most vulnerable girls in their communities. This is the famous CAMFED Multiplier effect, ignited by YOUR donations.
As girls and young women across rural Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, we’re standing tall and proud, because education has given us the power to claim our rights, speak up, support each other, and work together to change the systems that are holding us back.
Feel inspired? Please share this page with your friends, families and networks, to elevate our voices and take our message around the world.
We have so much to tell you! It's been tough to get to this point. We've faced hunger, early marriage, grief, guilt and despair, but the support our CAMFED community has provided allowed us to flourish. And we're already planning how to help those around us, and make the world a better place for all. Meet some of us here:
“I want to remove the injustices and the biases which most women are facing…I’m dreaming of becoming a lawyer…to bring equity and equality to both men and women…I want to encourage both girls and boys to fight for their rights and work hard in education so that we may fight against the injustices together.”
“I would like to help solve issues relating to my economy, to aid development in my country. Through this, I can empower young women to be confident and take up leadership roles in their schools and societies.”
“Education has given me the ability to stand in front of people and express myself. It has also given me dignity as a girl child. It has also given me the knowledge to adapt to new changes that are taking place in this world. I want to study law and become an attorney to focus on protecting the rights of defendants.”
“I’m the Junior MP for Gokwe Central constituency, and I’m also the vice Head Girl of my school. I dream of becoming a neurosurgeon… I’m going to make sure this dream of mine helps me to set up an organization that will help the girls and young women out there!”
“Education helped me to have confidence, I can speak in front of many people and I give them advice. Education helped me to make good decisions in my family and in the society. Education helped me to protect my rights and other people’s rights.”
“Education is actually the most empowering force in the world. Through education, I gained knowledge, I got confidence and all my barriers to opportunity broke down.”
This Day of the Girl we're also celebrating our amazing partners and supporters, who pull out all the stops to advocate for girls' rights, and celebrate African women's leadership for girls' education. From global icons, artists and influencers, to researchers, journalists and policy makers, our movement helps us accelerate change. Here's how we're celebrating this special day:
We’re so proud that today Michelle Obama’s Girls Opportunity Alliance announced CAMFED as one of its non-profit collaborators on a new initiative, Get Her There, a global call to action to help educate and empower adolescent girls around the world.
We’re thrilled to partner with Women Rise to elevate the voices and tell the stories of game changers across our partner communities. As passionate supporters of CAMFED, Women Rise are proud to be partnering with us to spread our message and support girls’ education. For Day of the Girl, we’ll be releasing some special Instagram Reels together – don’t miss these exclusive videos. There’s power in numbers – together we rise!
CAMFED’s Fiona Mavhinga joins Sharon Tao of the Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC), Judith Herbertson of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Mohamed Hure of UNHCR, Faith Mwangi Powell of Girls not Brides, Antara Ganguli of UNGEI, Lucia Fry of the Malala Fund, and Shiraz Chakera of UNICEF to discuss how to speed up progress on girls’ education globally.
On a flying visit to the United States, CAMFED’s Executive Director, Angeline (Angie) Murimirwa, spoke to Carol Van Dam Falk of Voice of America about our work supporting girls to go to school, succeed, and graduate into a community of women leaders for girls’ education. They also discussed our plans for Day of the Girl, and our partnerships for change.
Presenters on Voice of Islam Radio’s Drive Program marked Day of the Girl by speaking about the importance of women in Islam, and the barriers that remain to girls’ quality education. They were joined by CAMFED’s Enterprise Development Manager, Portia Kuffuor, to discuss the importance and impact of girls’ education and women’s leadership.
Launched on Day of the Girl, MECCA M-Power’s new M-Powered Collective features a range of remarkable organisations working to educate, elevate and empower women and girls. We’re proud to be a longstanding MECCA partner, working together to champion equality and opportunity for women and girls.
Through nearly a decade of investment by UK Aid’s Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC), we’ve transformed the lives of more than 277,000 girls and young women. But what does this transformation look like? On Day of the Girl, meet Stumai in Tanzania, whose journey from exclusion to entrepreneur, advocate and policy-shaper illustrates how education can shift the status quo for women and girls for good.
In the lead-up to Day of the Girl CAMFED’s Executive Director – Africa, Angeline Murimirwa, joined a panel on Inclusive Education – moderated by Liz Willen of the Heckinger Report – at the Stanford Education Summit co-hosted by the Yidan Prize Foundation. Her powerful co-panellists were Patricia Bromley, Jonathan Rosa, Eric Hanushek and Carol Dweck.
CAMFED is delighted to announce a new partnership with Educate A Child program of the Education Above All Foundation. Our joint action will reach thousands of children and improve learning outcomes in some of the poorest communities in Malawi.
In the lead-up to Day of the Girl, the REAL Centre at the University of Cambridge has announced new research working collaboratively with CAMFED and the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. It will explore how young women who have benefited from CAMFED’s grassroots-led Learner Guide program become catalysts for change within their communities.
On Day of the Girl, CAMFED Association members Dorcas Aba Ochil and Charlotte Owusu-Ansah spoke on Citi TV — one of Ghana’s leading television channels — about their unstoppable activism for girls’ education. Theirs is the latest in a series of interviews shining a spotlight on young women’s achievements.
Join CAMFED Association member and GPE Youth Leader Asimawu from Northern Ghana on a panel created by young women for Day of the Girl, as they discuss the barriers girls in their communities face, and why it’s critical to invest in girls’ agency. Asimawu is joined by activists from Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.
CAMFED Ghana’s Lena Addy and the Mastercard Foundation’s Nafisatu Yussif appeared alongside Mavis Walker Blagodzi and Gloria Azumah – representing the Mastercard Foundation Scholars at CAMFED Ghana – in a special program on TV3, Ghana for Day of the Girl. They explain how our partnership works to support young people into dignified and fulfilling lives through education.
With your support we can fund 1 Million school days this year, securing a secondary education for 5,000 more girls in rural communities across Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Let's get them what they need to learn and lead!
Partners, supporters and champions all over the world joined us to celebrate Day of the Girl.
Using the hashtag #EducationMyPower, they made sure our messages – about the superpowers we’re gaining in school and after graduation – were shared far and wide.
View our highlights on WakeletSally Dussere $158
Nancy Ettenheim $106
Aidan Baumann-Hays $47.6
Tricia Azzopardi $47.6
Michael Grant $263
Jennifer Freeman $158
Jim Reichardt $47.6
Gail Kelley $106
Wendy Mustain $52.9
Scott Scott $350
Shobhan Porter $5000
Jordan Hess $158
Ranga Sundaravadivelu $500
Joseph LeSage $158
Stephanie Gonzales £10.6
When she thrives, we all thrive
Together this giving season, we can make a difference that ripples outward to benefit everyone.
