International Development

CAMFED

Shortly after Miranda retired from Liberty she travelled to Zimbabwe to see at first hand the remarkable work of CAMFED, The Campaign for Female Education. She became a Trustee of CAMFED in 2011 and served as Chair of the Board of CAMFED International from 2013-2023.

CAMFED is an organisation that delivers exceptional performance at massive scale in the education of girls and the empowerment of young women in rural sub-Saharan Africa. CAMFED’s current 5-year strategic plan commits the organisation to support 5 million girls through school, and to create 150,000 sustainable jobs in the rural economy.

CAMFED is a leading innovator in the international development sector, above all through the creation of the network of CAMFED alumnae, now numbering over 250,000 young women, who build on the education they have received to step up as leaders in their communities, as entrepreneurs, as scientists, regulators, politicians and professionals, and above all as philanthropists. More than half the 5 million girls who will be supported through CAMFED’s strategic plan will be funded by the African alumnae, who effectively own and drive the evolution of the organisation’s operating model.

Global recognition in recent years of CAMFED’s unique approach to some of the most compelling challenges in sustainable international development include the following:

May 2019: Gold Medal and The People’s Choice Award at the Chelsea Flower Show for a garden illustrating CAMFED’s sustainable agricultural techniques.

September 2019: COP 25 UN Global Climate Action Award for the CAMFED alumnae network’s commitment to building climate-smart livelihoods

September 2020: The Hong Kong-based Yidan Foundation Prize for Education Development

August 2021: The Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the most prestigious US award in international development

October 2021: The Princess of Asturias Prize for International Co-operation. This is Spain’s equivalent of the Nobel prize.