Camfed wins prestigious Skoll Foundation Award for Social Entrepreneurship

On 31st March, at the second annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, Camfed was awarded the prestigious Skoll Foundation award for Social Entrepreneurship. The award came with a grant of $505,000 to invest in Camfed’s growth over the next 3 years.

“We have cast our net far and wide to find the world’s best social entrepreneurs,” said Sally Osberg, President and CEO of the Skoll Foundation. “Each organisation in our portfolio of Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship is tackling a complex social problem in order to promote healthy, sustainable communities. And each one is poised to expand that model to a new level. Together, these organizations represent an incredibly powerful force for systemic social change.”

When Camfed began its work in Africa in the early 1990s, there was little agreement about the benefits of girls’ education. Today there is widespread agreement that education is a fundamental right for all children and that the education of girls is a vital catalyst for economic and social progress.

The Skoll Award will enable Camfed to play a central role in ensuring that the current international consensus on the widespread benefits of girls’ education translates to direct support for individuals and communities to get more children into school.