The Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) is launching a new campaign for International Women’s Day, which hopes to highlight the impact that equal educational opportunities could have across the globe. The association has already created a model that radically improves prospects for girls and young women in rural Africa, allowing them to become independent, influential individuals capable of leading sustainable businesses.
“Women continue to face a lot of barriers,” says CAMFED’s executive adviser Fiona Mavhinga. “They still don’t have the same educational opportunities, land, capital, or support networks as men. But we are showing that when you remove those barriers, women’s contributions create an incredible multiplier, making the world a better place for all of us.”
An analysis carried out by the Boston Consulting Group showed that if women and men participated equally as entrepreneurs, global GDP could rise from approximately 3% to 6%, which would boost the global economy by nearly $2.5 trillion. The benefits aren’t solely financial, either; The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations found that increasing a woman’s income by $10 achieved the same improvements in children’s nutrition and health as increasing a man’s income by $110.
CAMFED’s International Women’s Day campaign shines a spotlight on supporting vulnerable young women from marginalised communities, helping them to lead change and investing in them in as well as beyond the classroom. Their 150,000-strong network of educated female leaders are a testament to the work they’ve done so far, and they hope to continue growing exponentially, revolutionising the way in which girls’ education is delivered.
“Equality starts with education,” says Fiona, “education paves the way for financial independence and leadership. When a woman is financially independent, she has a voice; she has agency. A financially independent woman has the capacity to reach out to others, to lift them up. She can be that role model, that entrepreneur, that policy maker, using her own experience to help others go further, quicker.”
To read more about CAMFED’s International Women’s Day campaign, head to camfed.org/iwd-2020
