Cotton Ann
Organization: Camfed International
Year Founded: 1993
Country: United Kingdom
Website: www.camfed.org
Camfed is dedicated to eradicating poverty in Africa through the education of girls and the empowerment of young women. Focus: Children and Youth, Education, Women Geographic Area of Impact: Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum Background In sub-Saharan Africa, only 70% of children complete primary school, and even less complete secondary school. The percentage is significantly less for girls. In 2004, only 60% of girls completed primary school in Ghana and Zambia, as opposed to 71% of boys. These national figures mask the reality in rural areas where access to education is lowest. Faced with few resources, many families choose to educate only their sons due to the perception that it represents a better “investment”; their daughters are sent instead to work in cities or face early marriage. The effects of these trends are devastating, particularly for rural girls who have even less access to educational resources than their urban peers. Education is a vital lifeline for these girls. For example, girls under 20 are experiencing rates of HIV infection five times that of boys, while research shows that girls with a secondary education are three times less likely to become HIV positive than those who receive no education. Innovation and Activities Camfed International has successfully challenged the conventional wisdom that cultural resistance is at the heart of girls’ exclusion from education in rural Africa, proving instead that chronic poverty is the main barrier. Since 1993, Camfed has pioneered a grassroots approach to advancing opportunities for girls and young women to guarantee a model that is locally-inspired and owned. Camfed has proven that girls’ education is the most effective means by which girls and their communities can break the devastating cycle of poverty that currently plagues sub-Saharan Africa. There are four key components to the Camfed model. Firstly, Camfed identifies vulnerable girls who risk leaving primary school on account of poverty or family illness, and provides full educational support, including covering school-going costs. Secondly, Camfed continues to support vulnerable girls through secondary school, providing them with four-year bursaries. This assistance is critical especially during the junction between primary and secondary education, when the rate of female drop-out escalates. Thirdly, Camfed provides school graduates with the chance to become economically empowered and independent members of their communities. Through the Camfed Association (CAMA), a pan-African network of Camfed graduates, Camfed offers ongoing training in finance, health and leadership. Camfed also fosters local enterprise through its microfinance programme. Fourthly, Camfed encourages young women’s leadership and empowerment through its advocacy of these issues, the CAMA network, and ongoing leadership skills training. In 2007, Camfed provided four-year bursary support to 12,374 girls in the four countries; 392,100 children received material and social support. In 2006, Camfed-supported girls in Zambia were 41% more likely than their non-Camfed counterparts to pass their Grade 9 exams; in Zimbabwe that year, 87% of Camfed-supported girls in basic secondary school went on to the next grade. The Entrepreneur Ann Cotton was first inspired to change the fate of girls in rural Africa during a research trip in a remote village in Zimbabwe in 1991. What she discovered there profoundly changed her view – that girls’ exclusion from education was culturally based. She met many parents who wanted to keep their daughters in school but were unable due to their poverty. Moved by this experience, Ann decided to found Camfed and has worked tirelessly ever since to ensure that poor girls are given the chance and the resources to go to school. Her work has been recognized with several international awards including an Honorary Doctorate in Law from the University of Cambridge in 2007.
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