The Malala Fund has approved 1.7 million dollars in new funding for nine Nigerian organisations working to reduce the country’s high number of out-of-school girls.
The information was published on the organisation’s official website and confirmed in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by its Communications Manager for Nigeria, Nankwat Mbi.
The latest investment forms part of a wider 4.8 million dollar package for 21 organisations across Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Tanzania. According to the fund, the intervention aligns with its 2025 to 2030 strategy and focuses on regions with the highest levels of girls missing out on formal education.
The fund stated that its strategy directs resources to countries with the greatest need and explained that 66 per cent of the grant would support young women-led organisations, describing it as more than triple its initial target.
“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,” they stated
Beneficiary organisations in Nigeria
The nine groups selected for the 1.7 million dollar allocation include the Aid for Rural Education Access Initiative and Anti-Sexual Violence Lead Support Initiative.
Others are Black Girls’ Dream Initiative, BudgiT Foundation for the Promotion of Information in Nigeria, and Centre for Advocacy, Transparency and Accountability Initiative.
The remaining recipients are Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative, Participatory Communication for Gender Development Initiative, Teenage Education and Empowerment Network, and Women, Children, Youth Health and Education Initiative.
The new grantees in Nigeria will work on improving gender-responsive budgeting, transparency, and citizen oversight. They are also expected to support school re-entry for pregnant and married girls and deploy digital tools that track education spending and detect infrastructure gaps.
Focus on vulnerable girls
Co-founder Malala Yousafzai said the Nigeria-focused funding is intended to help married girls and young mothers return to school and complete secondary education.
“I am incredibly proud that most of the funding we are awarding under our new strategy is going to organisations led by young women. 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,” she said
Yousafzai added that the Malala Fund’s Education Champion Network supports civil society organisations advocating for girls’ education and influencing policy change. She noted that the new partners would counter threats ranging from child marriage and conflict to systemic gender and racial discrimination, as well as shrinking education budgets in the five countries that are home to 31 million out-of-school girls.
Strengthening local solutions
Lena Alfi, Chief Executive Officer of the fund, said the organisation invests in groups that understand the issues confronting girls at the community level.
“With girls’ rights under pressure and resourcing slipping worldwide, the smartest investments we can make is in the young women and seasoned activists who know exactly how to defend them,” she said.
Alfi added that the fund prioritises flexible multi-year grants, allowing partners to channel resources to areas where they are most needed, including policy advocacy, budget transparency, safe-school initiatives, re-entry programmes for young mothers and efforts that remove hidden school costs.
