Release of impact numbers showcases Camfed’s success toward
Press Release – San Francisco, CA – July 25, 2016 – Success can be counted many ways. One of those ways is by adding up the numbers to mark an impact or change. For Camfed, the Campaign for Female Education, the numbers are extraordinary.
Camfed has released their Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) for 2015, detailing its continued growth and influence in the five Sub-Saharan countries in which they operate: Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. Today, Camfed announced that they are not only on track to reach their initial goal, but more than a third of the way to the final total.
“Nothing is more important than unleashing the power of girls and young women through education,” said Lucy Lake, CEO of Camfed.
In late 2014, Camfed pledged, as part of the CHARGE (Collaborative for Harnessing Ambition and Resources for Girls’ Education) Initiative, to put one million more girls in Sub-Saharan Africa through secondary school by 2020. CHARGE is co-led by No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project and the Center on Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. This pledge also coincides with the UN Global Goals on ending poverty and fighting injustice and inequality by 2030.
On track for its CHARGE pledge, Camfed surpassed their 2015 goal by more than 42 percent, totaling 389,793 girls supported to date under the commitment. Camfed’s growth and impact is being multiplied by CAMA, the organization’s 55,358 member-strong alumnae network. In line with Camfed’s goal to create a sustainable model of opportunity and community support, CAMA and community partners supported more than 60% of these girls.
“Camfed has been a leader in girls’ education and equality for more than 23 years”, said Lake. “We take our role seriously by putting our hearts and experience together for the service of girls and women. We’ve seen that providing girls with the education and skills they need, empowering them and to succeed, and to in turn support their communities, creates astounding returns on investment.”
Camfed’s programs have been recognized by the OECD for best practice in taking development innovation to scale. Last month, Camfed Founder and President Ann Cotton spoke on a panel about global education at the White Summit on The United State of Women, declaring that, “it is our responsibility to ensure that every single girl goes to school.”
Just this month, Camfed was recognized as a Top 500 World NGO by NGO Advisor. And earlier this year, Financial Force awarded Camfed for its use of technology to keep girls in school. Their remote and mobile technology has allowed the organization to not only track a girl’s journey through school, but to also ensure she is attending class, receiving her entitlements, and is getting involved with ‘give-back’ activities. These activities include becoming a Learner Guide, alumnae who go back to help teach and mentor in the communities where they were supported through school.
Again, the numbers tell the tale. Highlights from Camfed’s KPI impact in 2015 include:
- School population benefiting from an improved learning environment:
- 2,548,225 in 2015 / Cumulative total since 1993: 3,989,299
- Number of girls and vulnerable boys supported to go to school:
- 538,782 in 2015 / Cumulative total: 1,958,060
- Number of children supported by CAMA and community activities:
- 376,226 or 123,379 in 2015 / Cumulative total: 628,261
- Businesses set up by young women:
- 1,980 in 2015 / Cumulative total 14,812
- Number of government partner schools
- 5,306 in Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Camfed expects to surpass their goal of supporting one million more girls through secondary school by 2020, and CAMA membership is projected to grow to more than 130,000 by 2019, further expanding the network of young women making a positive impact on the world around them.
About Camfed
Camfed is an international non-profit organization tackling poverty and inequality by supporting girls to go to school and succeed, and empowering young women to step up as leaders of change. Camfed invests in girls and women in the poorest rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa, where girls face acute disadvantage, and where their education has transformative potential. Camfed not only supports girls and young women through school, but also on to new lives as entrepreneurs and community leaders. To complete the “virtuous cycle,” and create sustainable change, graduating students become CAMA alumnae, many of whom return to school to train and mentor new generations of students. Since 1993, Camfed’s innovative community-led education programs have benefited nearly 4 million children in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi. In 2014, Camfed was recognized by the OECD for best practice in taking development innovation to scale.
