CAMFED Ghana celebrates a 10-year partnership with the MasterCard Foundation

Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) Ghana has celebrated a decade-long partnership with the MasterCard Foundation today with a special convening of scholars and programme partners at the Lancaster Hotel in Accra.

The event highlighted the achievements and future aspirations resulting from this collaboration and shared numerous success stories.

The National Director of CAMFED Ghana, Fairuza Safian, speaking during the event, explained the programme’s goals and accomplishments over the past ten years.

She emphasised the initiative’s focus on supporting academically gifted young girls needing critical assistance to reach their full potential.

According to her, the programme’s objective was to offer 4,000 girls complete support through senior high school and 2,000 young women complete support through post-secondary education.

Contributions

“The programme’s significant contributions to Ghana’s Educational Policy Framework, particularly in addressing gender and inclusion in the educational sector, cannot be overstated. It is important to note that the Policy Framework has opened up issues related to gender and inclusion in our educational sector, which has had a positive impact on some tertiary institutions,” she recognised.

The CAMFED National Director added that their objectives over the years have been to nurture, support, and empower young girls to bring hope to many women as well.

Support

“Essentially, we at CAMFED decided to provide mentor support and empower young girls for the sole objective of bringing the best out of every young girl out there. Many of our beneficiaries are doing very well,” she indicated.

She also praised the profound impact on the lives of many young women who have graduated and progressed to notable positions.

Fairuza Safian touched on the fact that the event included discussions on the yearly Research and Learning Summits organised by CAMFED Ghana in collaboration with key partners, providing forums for stakeholders to shape education and enterprise policy.

Addressing the media on the rationale behind the event, Fairuza Safian expressed her gratitude for the partnership with the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Programme, acknowledging that although the scheme is ending, it will open doors to new opportunities.

For his part, the Head of the Yapei Traditional Area, Yapeiwura Dr. A.B.T. Zakariah, also expressed his support, noting the significant impact on young people’s ability to obtain an education and the opportunities provided to young women.

2024 framework

Camfed Ghana’s Programmes Managers, Christian Z. Agbebo and Joy Essandoh explained the 2024 framework, saying it aims at targeting marginalized young females to help them transition into entrepreneurs, gain employment opportunities, and drive the adoption of new initiatives.

An alumna and beneficiary of the programme, Bervelyn Longdon, shared her gratitude to CAMFED and the partnering organisation for their support.

Howard and Associates in Kenya’s representative, Doreen Odhiambo, along with Research Assistant and Scholar Alumni, Comfort Eshun equally commented on the programme’s influence, noting its incredible impact on young women’s lives, with its three key initiatives the senior high school support, high school transition support and tertiary opportunities.