CAMFED Ghana has held its 2023 Media Partnership Meeting in Tamale the Northern region.
CAMFED’s vision is a world, in which every child is educated, protected, respected, and valued, and grows up to turn the tide of poverty.
As the most effective strategy to tackle poverty and inequality, CAMFED multiplies educational opportunities for girls and empowers young women to become leaders of change.
CAMFED’s focus is on girls and young women in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. This is where girls face acute disadvantage and where their empowerment will have a transformative impact.
It works in five countries in Africa namely Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania, and Malawi. In Ghana and operates in 38 districts across the Northern, North East, Savannah, Bono, Bono East, Western, Eastern, Greater Accra, Ashanti, Upper East, Upper West, and Central regions.
Addressing participants at the Media Partnership Meeting in Tamale, National Director, CAMFED Ghana, Fairuza Safian, indicated that CAMFED supports girls and young women to be equipped and capacitated to become economically independent to be able to achieve their fullest potential.
According to her, CAMFED’s work is increasingly driven by the CAMFED Association, the ‘alumnae network’ of women who themselves received support from CAMFED to attend school and are now leaders for girls’ education in their communities.
“Currently growing exponentially across the five operational countries in Africa, the CAMFED Association is a strong social movement that is transforming the landscape of girls’ education and women’s empowerment in Africa. CAMFED Association members support each other through this network, using it as a platform to become agents of change within their communities and beyond”.
She revealed that based on the mid-year Key Performance Indicators, the number of girls receiving economic support (bursary) is 18,980 comprising 16,436 at the secondary level and 2,544 at the primary level.
“In total, 663,455 girls have been supported with bursary since the beginning of CAMFED operations in Ghana. The number of enterprises by mid-year stands at 445. In total, 35,894 enterprises have been supported since the beginning of CAMFED operations in Ghana. The number of CAMA members as of the end of 2022 stands at 59,468”.
She applauded the Mastercard Foundation for their continuous partnership with CAMFED over the years for the implementation of the Innovation Bursary Program, the Scholars, Transitions, and the Young Africa Works programs.
Madam Safian noted that CAMFED has developed a new strategic plan for the period 2024-2029 and that the strategic plan provides the blueprint and framework for CAMFED’s new strategic phase noting that It builds on their experience and momentum to set a game-changing ambition.
The National Director of CAMFED Ghana said the organisation plans to triple its impact over 30 years within six years and the strategy represents a progression from CAMFED’s existing work and not a change of direction.
“Over the next six years, we will implement a comprehensive support system targeted at the most marginalized girls, enable young women to transition to secure livelihoods and join a powerful peer network of leaders, and drive adoption of best practices in national education systems at scale”.
“CAMFED value and cherish the role that the media play in the socio-economic development of any society. We have worked to build a mutually beneficial strategic partnership with the Ghanaian media as partners in development. This meeting therefore provides a platform, through an open forum that is part of our schedule for the media to have a deeper understanding of our contribution towards girls’ education, women’s empowerment as well as the SDGs 4 and 5”.
BY Eric Kombat, Tamale