Press Release: Camfed selected as partner on Goldman Sachs global initiative to provide business education to underserved women

CAMFED SELECTED AS PARTNER ON GOLDMAN SACHS GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO PROVIDE BUSINESS EDUCATION TO UNDERSERVED WOMEN

Cambridge, U.K., March 6, 2008– The Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) and the University of Cambridge are delighted to be included in the first wave of partners in investment banking firm Goldman Sachs Group’s 10,000 Women initiative, which was announced on March 5th. The global initiative aims to unlock the economic potential of women in developing and emerging markets by providing high-quality business and management education to 10,000 underserved women around the world.

With funding from the Goldman Sachs initiative, Camfed, in conjunction with the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School and Cambridge Assessment, will create two innovative certificate programmes for women high school graduates in rural Africa. The Starting Early, Moving up and Flying High program will work with educational institutions in Zambia to offer an unprecedented opportunity for 560 young African women to cultivate their business acumen.

“It is tremendously exciting to be part of this visionary initiative where so many esteemed academic institutions and entrepreneurs are coming together to create change,” said Ann Cotton, founder and Executive Director of Camfed.

“Because there is such high unemployment in rural Africa, women there must create their own opportunities. The Goldman Sachs initiative will help unleash African women’s tremendous creativity and energy, and transform them from job seekers to job creators.”

The first certificate programme designed by the Camfed-Cambridge partnership will cultivate basic business literacy with entrepreneurship and leadership development through an intensive summer residential programme for young women who have just graduated from high school.

The second certificate will be a part-time, two year programme for women who are employed or enrolled in post-secondary career training as nurses and teachers to augment their skills with financial management and entrepreneurial training. The program will also offer coaching, personal development and networking resources.

The Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting poverty and HIV/AIDS in rural Africa by educating girls and investing in their economic independence and leadership. Camfed began in 1993 by supporting 32 girls in rural Zimbabwe. In 2007, more than 408,000 children in some of the poorest regions of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana and Tanzania benefited from Camfed’s education programme; 13,667 community members received business skills training; and 1,440 young women were supported to start their own enterprises. In 2008, Camfed will launch a programme in Malawi, and by 2010, it plans to expand to a total of seven countries.

Judge Business School is internationally recognised as one of the leading providers of innovative, intellectually challenging and practical business management education across a portfolio of undergraduate, graduate and executive programmes. As a fully integrated department of a world renowned university, Judge Business School hosts one of the largest concentrations of interdisciplinary business and management research activity in Europe. Ranked 10th in the 2008 FT Global Rankings of business schools , 7th in the 2007 Economist Intelligence Unit Global MBA Rankings, and 3rd in the 2007 Forbes Global Rankings for one year MBA programmes, the Cambridge MBA sits alongside the very best in the world. www.jbs.cam.ac.uk

The Cambridge Assessment Group, a non-profit organization, is Europe’s largest assessment agency. Cambridge Assessment Group incorporates three examination boards and is a department of the University of Cambridge. It is the Group’s objective to ensure learners across the world are able to access the benefits of their education through receiving fair and accurate assessment.

Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high net-worth individuals. Founded in 1869, it is one of the oldest and largest investment banking firms. The firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centres around the world.

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Contact:
Kimberley Sevcik
Media Relations Officer
Camfed
T: +415-979-1556
E: pr@camfed.org

Tim Holt
Deputy Head of Communications
University of Cambridge
T: +44-223-332300

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