Analysis: CAMFED's collaborative partnership approach
CAMFED does not exist to speak for girls and young women, or governments, but seeks to support them in all spaces where they are invited to ensure that dignity and respect they are given at CAMFED are perpetuated as much as possible.Aisha D. Sykes - Documenting CAMFED’s Partnering Practices with Governments: An Analysis
Researcher Aisha D. Sykes conducted stakeholder interviews and analyzed program documents and research evidence to come up with the recipe to CAMFED’s “secret sauce.”
CAMFED serves to support governments and communities in our shared goal to deliver quality education for all children, especially marginalized girls, by engaging in a collaborative and respectful way.
CAMFED co-creates solutions with governments — drawing upon evidence from its longstanding, proven programs — to help overcome challenges within national education systems.
Our programs are resilient and sustainable because they are led by communities and aligned with government systems — enabling transformation from local to national level (and beyond).
By nurturing mutual trust and sustaining long-term relationships with government and community partners, CAMFED has grown a reputation for being consistent and reliable.
CAMFED’s work is grounded in clear, simple, and visible evidence. The results are as evident as a young woman standing in front of government officials, her community, and external audiences to talk about her life, and the journey she has been through, to where she is today.
Aisha D. Sykes – Documenting CAMFED’s Partnering Practices with Governments: An Analysis
This simplicity makes the adoption and integration of elements of our programs into government systems both feasible and beneficial.
CAMFED fosters relationships at every level with care and respect — doing so with an understanding that people, not just positions, drive transformation.
The ‘magic’ of how CAMFED engages with government and with partner communities was cited by many as ‘humility’ and a willingness to listen to and learn from others.
CAMFED does not come to us with a fully cooked program and expect us to implement it. They invite us to develop it with them.Government official - Documenting CAMFED’s Partnering Practices with Governments: An Analysis
The research evidence Aisha D. Sykes analyzed emerged from a 2021-2024 project supported by the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE/KIX), a joint endeavor with International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
Her report examines how partnerships evolve, across contexts and locations. It draws on one of the most important examples of CAMFED’s collaboration with government, which has looked at how to integrate elements of our Learner Guide model into national education systems at scale to support the success of millions of children.
Read the analysis
Ashort film also documents the collaborative approach. Watch to hear government, school and youth participants describe the roles they played in participatory research and the learning they gained to support education systems transformation.
Learner Guides return to their former schools as role models and mentors, helping marginalized children to stay in school, learn with confidence, succeed, and create a better world for themselves and their communities. As "Big Sisters" Learner Guides have the empathy and expertise to unlock the limitless potential of vulnerable children, especially girls, in their rural communities.
Catherine Thieme $158
Marlo Kitch $211
Kym Mcculley $10.9
Tom Weimer $26.6
Renee Alexander $58.2
Renee Alexander $42.4
Alexia Bjarkan $10
Yeison Calderon $52.9
Pierce Gendron $42.4
Kate Smith $52.9
Laurie Calvin $10.9
Kate Smith $10.9
Ty and Bobby Johannsen $158
Justine Henson $10.9
Larry McMullen $211
TIME100 Most Influential People
CAMFED CEO, Angeline Murimirwa, named to TIME’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people.
