CAMFED

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CAMFED is an international non-governmental organisation founded in Cambridge, England to support the education of girls and women in Africa.

CAMFED began in 1993 by supporting 32 girls in Zimbabwe. Today, it benefits almost 250,000 children educationally in some of the poorest regions of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana and Tanzania.

The impact of CAMFED’s work is being multiplied as the young women supported through school by CAMFED share the benefits of their education with their communities. They have set up their own pan-African organisation, CAMA (the CAMFED Association), which has more than 4,700 members – among them doctors, lawyers and teachers.

The majority of CAMA members are now rural businesswomen, achieving economic independence, providing necessary goods and services and becoming role models for the younger generation. Last year alone, 16,226 children – two thirds of whom were girls – were supported to go to school by members of CAMA, in partnership with other community groups. The philanthropy and activism of these young women is giving thousands more children the opportunity of an education and sustaining a cycle of change.

CAMFED's original name, in 1993, was "Cambridge Female Education Trust". It is now organised in four branches:

CAMFED International, the parent body, a registered charity in the UK (No. 1029161)
CAMFED Zimbabwe, established in 1993
CAMFED USA Foundation, established in 2001 (a 501I3 organisation)
CAMFED Zambia, established in 2002

CAMFED’s income in 2005 was £2.06 million ($3.68 million), which supported programmes in rural Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana and Tanzania: 246,525 children benefited from CAMFED’s programme of educational support.

CAMFED was named UK International Aid & Development Charity of the Year in 2003 and currently co-chairs the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI).