CAMFED Tanzania was launched in 2005 to tackle girls' exclusion from education.
Supporting girls to learn and lead in Tanzania
CAMFED Tanzania launched in 2005, working with the government to boost secondary school enrollment, as Tanzania has one of the lowest transition rates between primary and secondary school in Africa.
We first started our work in the town of Iringa, where many girls who couldn’t afford secondary school fees were leaving home to become “house girls” in urban centers, at extreme risk of abuse and exploitation. Since then, our work has expanded, and by 2025 CAMFED Tanzania was supporting the education of vulnerable children in government schools across 35 districts.
I have been with CAMFED since it started in Tanzania. What makes me feel so excited about our work is seeing the girls we are supporting rising from despair to having hope. Some of the girls have been able to achieve things they thought they’d never be able to achieve – passing exams, running businesses, and becoming Learner Guides, mentors and role models to other vulnerable children. They are now respected by their families and communities, holding positions of responsibility, and giving back by helping others. That obvious change in each girl has happened because CAMFED has invested in them. This is what motivates me to go to work each day.
Lydia Wilbard, Founding member of the CAMFED Association in Tanzania