Camfed | Where the Water Meets the Sky

About Camfed

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What we do

For 15 years, Camfed has been dedicated to fighting poverty and HIV/AIDS in rural communities in Africa by educating girls and investing in their economic independence and leadership once they complete school. When Camfed commits to supporting a girl’s education, she isn’t merely sent to school for a year or two. She is supported throughout her childhood and adolescence and into young adulthood. Our programs are designed to follow girls and young women through critical junctures in their lives – when they are particularly prone to drop out of school, or marry young, for example. Our mission is to help them escape poverty and realize their tremendous potential.

Girls who are supported through school by Camfed evolve into role models and leaders in their communities, providing inspiration to the next generation. Seeing women in their community succeed gives more children the confidence to pursue their dreams.

The impact

There is a growing consensus among global leaders that girls’ education is the single best investment that can be made in developing countries. Studies show that educated girls marry later, have fewer children, are half as likely to contract HIV, and increase their future incomes by 15 to 25 percent for every year of secondary school education that they complete.

And the investment reverberates through the community. Women who have been supported through school by Camfed go on to fund the education of younger relatives. They contribute to the local economy as successful entrepreneurs. They develop the confidence and skills to play an active role in shaping their communities and initiating change.

In 2007, more than 408,000 children across Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Ghana benefited from Camfed’s education programs; 13,667 community members received business skills training; and 1,440 young women were supported to start their own rural enterprises.

Read more about how Camfed works, and the girls and women whose lives have been transformed through education, by visiting Camfed's website

The problem	The solution
83 percent of girls in sub-Saharan Africa are not in secondary school. 42 percent of girls in sub-Saharan Africa are married before the age of 18. Adolescent girls are up to five times more likely to die from complications of pregnancy than women in their 20s, and their babies are also at a higher risk of dying. Early childbearing is closely correlated with poverty. Girls from poor households are three times more likely than girls from wealthier families to give birth during adolescence, and they bear twice as many children. Poverty compels many young women to seek exploitative employment, with jobs that are characterized by minimal pay, long hours, and unequal power relations.	When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children. For every additional year that a girl attends secondary school, her income increases by 15 to 25 percent. Women with post-primary education are five times more likely than illiterate women to know the basic facts about HIV/AIDS. For every year of schooling that a mother receives, infant mortality declines by 5-10 percent. When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, in comparison to men, who reinvest only 30 to 40 percent of their income.

The problem

The solution

83 percent of girls in sub-Saharan Africa are not in secondary school.
42 percent of girls in sub-Saharan Africa are married before the age of 18.
Adolescent girls are up to five times more likely to die from complications of pregnancy than women in their 20s, and their babies are also at a higher risk of dying.
Early childbearing is closely correlated with poverty. Girls from poor households are three times more likely than girls from wealthier families to give birth during adolescence, and they bear twice as many children.
Poverty compels many young women to seek exploitative employment, with jobs that are characterized by minimal pay, long hours, and unequal power relations.

When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children.
For every additional year that a girl attends secondary school, her income increases by 15 to 25 percent.
Women with post-primary education are five times more likely than illiterate women to know the basic facts about HIV/AIDS.
For every year of schooling that a mother receives, infant mortality declines by 5-10 percent.
When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, in comparison to men, who reinvest only 30 to 40 percent of their income.