PORTSMOUTH, Rhode Island — Malala Yousafzai, a leading Pakistani advocate for girls’ education worldwide and author of the book “I Am Malala”, is continuing her mission to provide safe and quality education for all. However, there is an even larger entity doing very much the same: the Malala Fund.
Originally inspired by co-founders Malala and Ziauddin Yousafzai, the nonprofit organization’s goal is to amplify muffled voices and improve the quality and accessibility of educational opportunities for girls.
In 2014, the Malala Fund committed $3.5 million to 11 projects for 2014-2016, primarily investing in local educational programs and advocating for further resources. Since then, the foundation has mainly focused its cause to four countries, striving to tackle the critical issues of each region.
Pakistan
Pakistan, the home country of Malala Yousafzai, has the second-highest number of girls not in school in the world, according to the Malala Fund website. This makes enhancing access to education a prominent issue throughout the country.
Astonishingly, Pakistani boys from wealthy households are still 16 times more likely to receive a secondary education than poor girls from rural areas. The Malala Fund is helping both married and vulnerable girls obtain a valuable secondary education. Its efforts have also increased enrollment for girls at secondary schools in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The foundation also reacts to instances of natural disasters. In response to substantial flooding in 2014, the foundation provided essential school supplies and repaired damaged classrooms for two girls’ schools located in Punjab.
Nigeria
Located in West Africa, Nigeria has 8.7 million primary school age children not receiving education, the most of any nation and 58 percent more than the country with the next-highest figure. Recently, the Malala Fund has assisted girls who have escaped from Boko Haram in their transition back into school by providing helpful counseling services and scholarships in order to complete their secondary education.
In unison with the foundation’s personal work, the Malala Fund also provides funding to the Centre for Girls’ Education (CGE), a joint program established in northern Nigeria dedicated to advancing adolescent girls’ education, health and empowerment.
Kenya
In Kenya, more than 50 percent of girls don’t enroll in secondary education due to high fees. However, Kenya’a capital Nairobi is quickly transforming into a ‘digital hub’, according to the Malala Fund website. Malala and her organization have realized this breakthrough, and are using it as an advantage in the creation of quality education and better futures for girls.
According to the Malala Fund website, the investment in secondary education, especially in information and communication technology training programs, will help prepare low-income girls for jobs and careers of the future. Specifically, the foundation supports NairoBits’ Centers for Girls, which offers training in information and communication technology.
Sierra Leone
In addition to the problem of secondary education for girls, Sierra Leone also faces the terrifying health issue of Ebola, an fatal disease that wreaked havoc throughout West Africa in 2014.
This outbreak ultimately left many girls without schooling. Amidst this crisis, the Malala Fund supported the BRAC’s Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents program, helping to form various learning clubs to continue the country’s education by radio.
Termed “Radio Schools,” these education programs allowed 1,200 girls to continue their studies in 2015, all being supported by Malala Fund donors.
The Malala Fund, established a mere four years ago, has already made a tremendously prominent impact on girls’ education in some of the world’s poorest countries.
Furthermore, the organization is specializing in aiding Syrian refugees in any way it can, including the opening of the Malala Yousafzai All-Girls School in 2015. This institution is a free, informal school strictly for Syrian refugee girls to give them a quality secondary education.
Led by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai, the foundation has assisted girls in more than six countries. In the future, the Malala Fund plans to continue supporting local educational organizations that are also dedicated to the enhancing of the accessibility of education for all girls around the world.
– Jordan J. Phelan
Photo: Flickr