Seasonal Appeal: Camfed International

Whilst the point of this blog is not mainly to endorse charities it is, I think, worth taking advantage of the Christmas period to endorse an international charity that has a very specific and important mission. The charity in question is Camfed International. Camfed was founded in 1993 by Ann Cotton with a general and particularly laudable aim, namely, to improve the chances for girls' education in Africa. Camfed stands for the Campaign for Female Education and its focus is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, the main reason why girls are not educated is due to poverty with families choosing to educate boys first due to the latter's greater chance of employment later. To even the chances for girls, outside action is needed.

Not only is this so but also the economic advantages of girls' education is enormous. Girls are much more likely to invest income earned directly into their family and income is much more likely to be earned if they are educated. Educated girls are much less likely to contract HIV, not least because they are more informed when engaging in sexual relations. Educated girls will have fewer children when they grow older and those they have will be proportionately much more likely to survive infancy. General focus on girls' emancipation, particularly in Africa, is crucial to development as it doubles the work-force and ensures greater opportunities for more equitable relations. Click on the link to Camfed and donate something and support educating a girl because, when you educate a girl, everything changes!