Malala Fund announces new investment of $4.8M in girls’ education — with 66% going to young women-led organisations

21 organisations in Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Ethiopia, Tanzania join Malala Fund’s Education Champion Network to address barriers keeping girls from school.

WASHINGTON D.C., DC, UNITED STATES, November 19, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Washington, DC — November 19, 2025. Malala Fund today announced $4.8 million in new grants for 21 organisations advancing girls’ education in Nigeria, Pakistan, Brazil, Ethiopia and Tanzania. In line with the organisation’s 2025–2030 strategy, 66% of this funding (about $3.17 million) will support young women-led organisations — more than triple Malala Fund’s original target.

“I am incredibly proud that most of the funding we are awarding under our new strategy is going to organizations led by young women,” said Malala Yousafzai, Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Malala Fund. “From reducing the cost of books and transport for girls in rural Pakistan to ensuring married girls and young mothers in Nigeria can complete secondary school, our partners are leading the fight for girls to learn, even under the toughest circumstances.”

Malala Fund’s Education Champion Network (ECN) supports civil society organisations working to advance girls’ education and influence policy change and implementation in their countries. The new cohort of ECN grantee partners will address urgent threats — from child marriage and conflict to systemic gender and racial discrimination and shrinking education budgets — across five countries that together are home to 31 million out-of-school girls.

“Our partners are closest to the challenges holding girls back and are delivering bold, practical, systemic solutions so girls can get the education they deserve," said Lena Alfi, CEO of Malala Fund. "With girls’ rights under pressure and resourcing slipping worldwide, the smartest investment we can make is in the young women and seasoned activists who know exactly how to defend them.”

Malala Fund prioritises flexible, multi-year grants so that partners can devote resources to where they’re most needed — from policy advocacy and budget transparency to safe-school initiatives, re-entry policies for young mothers and the elimination of hidden school costs.

The new cohort of grantees will work to:

Nigeria: Scale gender-responsive budgeting, transparency and citizen oversight; support school re-entry for married and pregnant girls; and deploy digital tools that track education spending and infrastructure gaps.

Pakistan: Address the hidden costs (such as transport, materials, and uniforms) of girls attending school; restore flood-damaged schools; recruit female teachers; and build accountability for gender-responsive local budgets.

Brazil: Advocate for gender- and race-responsive education plans; make menstrual dignity laws a reality in schools; and strengthen sexual health and anti-violence programming so girls can stay in school.

Ethiopia: Advance national and regional adoption of the Safe Schools Declaration; train teachers and local officials on gender-based violence prevention; and create safe spaces and provide psychosocial support in conflict-affected areas.

Tanzania: Strengthen re-entry policies for young mothers; expand gender-based violence reporting in schools; and support legal reforms to set 18 as the minimum age of marriage with no exceptions.

Our focus countries — and specific regions within countries (as in Brazil) — have especially high numbers and rates of out-of-school girls. In particular, Nigeria and Pakistan are home to 15% of all out-of-school girls globally. In all these country contexts, we invest in local civil society organisations, building on years of partnership and impact on the ground. To learn more about these grantees, please visit our News and Voices webpage for a full list.

About Malala Fund

Malala Fund is working for a world where every girl can learn and choose her own future. We champion every girl’s right to 12 years of education by investing in local education advocates and programmes and amplifying girls’ demands to shape policy and funding. To date, Malala Fund has awarded $73 million through 560+ grants across 27 countries. Leveraging our global reach and influence, we have helped secure transformative policies and vital funding commitments for girls’ education worldwide. Learn more at malala.org.

Julianna Longo, Sr. Director of Strategic Communications
Malala Fund
press@malalafund.org

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