Govt to double donations to keep girls in school

The UK government is set to double donations to Camfed, the Campaign for Female Education, to help end child marriage and keep girls in school.

Camfed is preparing to start a three-month UK Aid Match appeal with the government, which it will announce at a government event today.

The UK Aid Match scheme will see the government matching the UK’s donations to Camfed’s appeal.

“Giving vulnerable girls the power to take control of their futures is fundamental to helping them escape the dangerous cycle of child marriage, early motherhood and poverty,” Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel said.

“By matching every penny of the UK’s generous donations to Camfed’s appeal, we are giving girls across Africa the hope of a better future. This money will help them finish their education and get good jobs, giving them brighter and more prosperous lives.”

The Camfed appeal focuses on the issue of child marriage in some of the poorest areas of sub-Saharan Africa, where as many as six out of 10 girls are married before the age of 18.

“Where extreme poverty leaves families with little choice, and traditional practices discriminate against girls and young women, it feels like an intractable problem. But together we can make sure that a girl is married to her future, not a man three times her age,” Camfed CEO Lucy Lake added.