For girls growing up in rural Africa, poor school attendance during adolescence is strongly linked to a range of long-term vulnerabilities. These include early sexual initiation, child marriage, early motherhood, increased exposure to HIV and AIDS, and a heightened risk of domestic violence.
As adolescent girls transition into adulthood and motherhood, those who have not received a quality education are less likely to value learning or understand the long-term benefits of schooling. This often results in lower educational attainment for their own children, perpetuating intergenerational cycles of poverty and limited opportunity.
Our Response
Our Female Empowerment initiatives are designed to inspire primary school girls from some of the most remote communities in Madagascar and Zambia to recognise their self-worth and realise their full potential. At the heart of this work is a clear objective: to increase the number of girls who successfully transition from primary to secondary school and ultimately complete their education.
A key goal of the programme is for 90% of girls to transition to secondary schools. These schools not only offer stronger academic resources than local government day schools, but they also create environments that fosters academic focus while shielding girls from the domestic responsibilities and social pressures that often limit their progress at home. At the end of 2025, we recorded a retention rate of 100% our graduating cohort of girls in our programme compared to 84% retention rate in the prior year. By supporting girls to remain in school through adolescence, we contribute to healthier families, stronger communities and a more equitable future.
In 2021, we expanded our Female Empowerment Programme to include women from our communities who had previously dropped out of school, many due to early pregnancies and marriages. The programme offers these women a second chance to rebuild their confidence, strengthen their financial independence and pursue sustainable livelihoods. Building on this strong foundation of our pilot cohort, a new cohort of 39 women joined the programme in 2025. Throughout the year, the second cohort of community women participated in a total of 535 hours of literacy, business management and financial record-keeping training, alongside mentorship through regular home visits to reinforce budgeting, stock management and profit tracking. Outcomes for the current cohorts will be assessed when they graduate from the programme, which is expected in late 2026 or early 2027. However, participants in the cohorts with existing businesses have already reported substantial increases in monthly income, with an average improvement of 80% from pre-enrollment levels, attributed to the business management and financial literacy skills gained through the programme.