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Education is not freely available to everyone – and in many parts of the world girls are the first to be excluded from it.

The odds are stacked against girls from disadvantaged, rural communities in Africa: 95% never complete secondary school.

With many households surviving on less than $1.25 per day, a lack of funds for both direct and indirect school-going costs creates the constant threat of girls’ expulsion, or prevents their access entirely.

The Campaign for Female Education, CAMFED, is working to change that. 

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Imagine you're a young girl in rural Africa...

You enjoyed primary school and your classmates but had to drop out when it was time for secondary school.

You may have lost a parent or both and are caring for younger siblings or helping elderly grandparents. With limited family resources, affording school fees, food, uniforms, or transportation is a challenge.

To support your family, you now work, which makes you vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and early marriage. You’re at risk of physical violence, HIV/AIDS, and complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

Without education, your potential remains untapped, making it harder to break the cycle of poverty

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Then imagine that CAMFED steps in to support you...

Chosen by your community, you get financial and social support for school, including mentorship from experienced young women who understand your journey. We work together to remove barriers to your education by engaging with parents, teachers, officials, and community leaders to ensure you receive what you deserve.

This support is more than just a one-time cash infusion; it’s a comprehensive package that enables you to enroll in school, excel academically and socially, and make the most of your education after graduation. You join our sisterhood, the CAMFED Association of women leaders, gaining skills for business, job applications, or further education.

You retain control over your body and your choices, like marriage and family planning, and give back to the community that nurtured you.

Join the CAMFED Movement

Join our global community of supporters and stand up for girls' access to education. Your gift helps us remain agile, so we can continue to be there for the most vulnerable girls and women, especially during a crisis.

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When you educate a girl, everything changes:

Investing in girls' education and young women's leadership is a proven way of improving the health and wealth of entire nations. 

  • 90%

    Educated women will reinvest 90% of their earnings back into their families, compared with 35% for men. They'll invest in their children's education and support their studies.

    Clinton Global Initiative (2009)

  • 2X

    Women with a secondary school education will earn twice as much, on average, as women without an education. Lack of girls' secondary education costs countries between $15 and $30 trillion in lost lifetime productivity and earnings.

    World Bank (2018)

  • 3x

    Educated girls are up to three times less likely to become HIV-positive, and at reduced risk of malaria.

    UN AIDS Gap Report (2014)

  • 5x

    Girls with secondary schooling are five times less likely to marry as children compared to girls who have little or no education, and have healthier families

    Global Partnership for Education (2019)

We Can Do More Together

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.

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When you educate a girl, you educate a nation

When you educate a girl through CAMFED, you ignite the Multiplier Effect of girls’ education, because you’re investing in tomorrow’s leaders, working together to change the status quo for the most marginalized people in their communities and countries, and making the world a better place for everyone. 

Find out more about what sets us apart, and how we catalyze the power of the most vulnerable girls and young women to create the future they imagine — for themselves, for their communities, and for Africa.

 

What sets us apart

Meet some of our clients & leaders

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Meet Fanny, a CAMFED client

One of millions of girls living in extreme poverty in child-headed households, Fanny understands only too well the choice and opportunity an education can afford. Now that she’s supported at secondary school, she’s ready to shake up the world.

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Meet Nimatu, a CAMFED Association leader

Supported by CAMFED to complete her education, Nimatu is now an inspirational leader and philanthropist in the CAMFED Association.  Through her Changemakers Girls’ Club, she mentors 60 girls at the only Senior High School in her district.

Thank you to our generous recent donors

Together we are breaking the cycle of poverty

Donate

Melissa K Goodwill $52.9

Gladys Ayala $1052

Gabi Rizzuto $100

Linda Penn $100

Julia Pistor $31.9

John Dickinson $100

Chris Parrish $37.1

Sheila Eswaran $211

Barbara Bielby £26.2

Rumbidzai Kauta $21.2

Anna Gibson $52.4

jenna junker $10.9

Christal Sohl $500

Laurel Tacoma $31.9

Margaret Duggan $100