$260,000 Raised for Camfed: Harry & Meghan Match Birthday Donations from Supporters

Last month we discussed an incredible effort spearheaded by supporters of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in honour of their birthdays. Both Harry and Meghan are passionate advocated for girls' education and the larger impact it has on individuals, families and communities. Camfed, an inspiring organisation the couple has worked with, was the perfect choice. To celebrate Harry's 36th birthday yesterday, the couple marked the day by matching donations of $130,000 meaning over a quarter of a million dollars was raised for the organisation. In a message to Camfed, the couple wrote: "No better way to celebrate what really matters. Thank you to everyone who donated!" The huge sum raised will see 113 young women complete a year of education in a field of their choice.

Angeline Murimirwa and Lucy Lake, Camfed co-executives said:

“We are absolutely thrilled that The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have chosen to make this inspiring match on Prince Harry’s birthday, acknowledging the power of community in rallying support for girls’ education and women’s leadership. Both Harry and Meghan believe deeply in delivering social justice, and have used their platforms, including as President and Vice President of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, to ensure young women from disadvantaged backgrounds are seen and heard on the global stage, and their leadership acknowledged and nurtured. In these difficult times, seeing individuals, champions and partners rally around CAMFED’s model makes us even more determined to ensure that all girls can go to school, learn, thrive and lead.”

Camfed is an international non-profit organization tackling poverty and inequality by helping girls go to school and succeed, also empowering young women to step up as leaders of change. Since 1993, Camfed's innovative education programmes in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi have directly helped more than 2.6 million students to attend primary and secondary school, and more than 5 million children have benefited from an improved learning environment.

Much needed funds will support girls like Eva from Tanzania. "Eva, a CAMFED supported student and CAMFED Association member in Tanzania, received training in bookkeeping and agriculture in addition to an interest free loan to open a fruit farm. The training she received has been invaluable in enabling her to adapt and expand her business. Eva has been passing on the benefits of her success by providing students in her local community with notes and photocopies of exam papers so they don’t fall behind while schools are closed due to COVID-19. With big ambitions for the future, Eva is participating in a program through the Sokoine University of Agriculture to enhance her farming skills even further."

Meghan began privately meeting with representatives from Camfed before the wedding. On International Women's Day, Meghan joined several female change-makers, including Angeline, for a panel discussion in London. Speaking about barriers to progress for women she said: "That is one huge thing, a lack of access to education in my mind is the single largest hindrance to this equality that we are all seeking out." The Duchess also recorded a video message for Camfed's Education Changes Everything gala in New York, which took place earlier this evening. In her role as vice-president of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust, the Duchess said: "A girl who is educated becomes a woman who is influential."

During an engagement in South Africa, Meghan told a group of representatives from Camfed: "I'm so happy to be with you. We’re just so proud, as president and vice-president of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, that we can support you in everything that you do because we cannot begin to express how valuable and vital that work is. We’re just incredibly proud to be part of it." Executive director Angeline Murimirwa told Meghan: “Since you yourself were a young girl you have advocated for women as equal beings with the power to make lasting change, and I know this is something you will instil in Archie. I always think of a saying in my local language, Shona: "Chinonzi rasa ndechirimumaoko kwete muropa." It means: "You can only be told to throw away what is in your hands, not what is in your blood." The fact that you care, that you advocate, that you shine a light on this and always have done, means so much." Below, Harry and Angeline.

Indeed, this cause is close to Harry's heart and has been for some years. During an impassioned speech in Nepal in 2016 at the Girl Summit, the Prince said:

"Over the last decade, I have been hugely inspired by working alongside those striving to help young people achieve their full potential, sometimes in very difficult circumstances. My charity Sentebale has helped thousands of children access education and healthcare in Lesotho, Southern Africa. Closer to home, in Nottingham, England, I have seen first hand the transformational effect of even the smallest opportunity in keeping a child away from gangs, keeping them in school, and on track to a more fulfilling and prosperous life.

While the unique challenges faced by girls is not a topic I have spoken much about in the past, I think it's important to acknowledge something that has become obvious to me and is already known to everyone in this room: there are way too many obstacles between girls and the opportunities they deserve.

Whether it's a girl in Lesotho living with  HIV; or the talented young woman in Britain who doesn't get taken seriously because of where she grew up; or the 14 year old girl forced out of school so she can get married here in Nepal; we need to acknowledge that so many countries and cultures are failing to protect the opportunities of young women and girls in the way they do for boys.

I believe it is vitally important for men like me to acknowledge this as loudly and openly as role models do like President Bhandari, the US First Lady Michelle Obama and activists like Malala. As the First Lady has said, change needs to come from the bottom up. We won't unlock these opportunities for young women and girls unless we can change the mindset of every family and community. To achieve this, it cannot just be women who speak up for girls.

So let's be open about some of the challenges facing young women.
Globally, 62 million girls are not getting the education they deserve. Two thirds of the nearly 800 million people who were never taught to read and write are women. Around the world, more than 700 million women alive today were married as children and nearly 250 million of them were married before the age of 15.
Here in Nepal, nearly half of all women who are today in their twenties, thirties and forties were married before their eighteenth birthdays. And a little under half gave birth while still in their teens.

It may be obvious to say it, but girls who marry young stay at home. They don’t finish school. And they soon become locked in a cycle of illiteracy, poverty, ill health and, ultimately, powerlessness.

How can this cycle be broken? We all know what the answer is - education.
Improved access to education can transform lives, families, communities and ultimately entire countries. When girls finish their schooling, they gain skills, knowledge and confidence - in short; they are empowered to improve their lives and the lives of everyone around them.

I recognise that each country must find its own path; and that here in Nepal, this is a complex social challenge. But it is one that the Government is tackling and is making progress in its hope of ending child marriage by 2030; it has fallen by 10% over the last decade and the practice is now banned by law. Therefore the focus can now turn toward enforcement and education.

Female leadership in Nepal now sets a powerful example, with women occupying the roles of President and Speaker. But the biggest reason for our optimism is the inspiring girls and boys in this room who care so much about changing attitudes towards young women in this country."

Harry touched on insights and the experience working closely with his charity Sentebale has given him over the years. Education is the key to unlocking so many positive possibilities for the future. Long before Harry met Meghan he was focused on substantive legacy projects such as Sentebale, his work with veterans, and young people. Their shared interests bonded them from their first meeting and in the months ahead we're going to see the next chapter of their work in action.

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And on that note, with another photo from his trip to Nepal in 2016, I hope Harry had a wonderful birthday yesterday with his wife and son. 

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