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Grantmaking

A strong, diverse and connected civil society fuels progress in girls’ education.

We provide grants to civil society organisations to advocate for policies that dismantle barriers to girls’ education and uphold their right to secondary education. We support efforts to protect adolescent girls’ access to learning during crises and build movements through global advocacy. 

Grant types

Education Champion Network

The majority of our grants support local advocates in communities, regions and countries where significant numbers of girls are out of school or at risk of dropping out. We aim to allocate at least 20% of our grants to organisations led by girls or young women.

Global advocacy

A portion of our grants advance momentum for girls through global advocacy. We fund organisations working in education, girls’ rights and gender equality to advocate to global leaders and institutions on issues that help improve the environment for girls’ education.

Education in emergencies

We award grants to organisations responding to crises that disrupt education for large numbers of adolescent girls — including organisations delivering alternative learning programmes for girls in Afghanistan.

We focus on countries where girls face the biggest education barriers.

How we’re investing

Education Champion Network

Through our Education Champion Network, we provide grants to civil society organisations in our focus countries.

  • We aim to award at least 20% of our grants to organisations governed or led by girls and young women.

  • We prioritise flexible, multi-year grants — respecting and enhancing our partners’ autonomy to use these resources as they see fit. 

  • We fund our grantee partners to address common country goals, contributing to stronger advocacy movements on the ground. 

Global advocacy

We provide grants to organisations that advocate to global institutions and influential governments for bold policies that help strengthen girls’ rights and increase public funding for girls’ education.

  • We prioritise organisations based in or that have a long-term presence in lower-income countries in the education, girls’ rights and gender equality sectors.

Education in emergencies

We respond to the education needs of adolescent girls in crises by mobilising funding to organisations at the forefront of response efforts.

  • We provide targeted, discrete grants to organisations responding to crises to sustain girls’ education access.

  • We support organisations that deliver alternative and digital learning programmes for girls in Afghanistan while they are banned from secondary schools.

Afghanistan

The crisis in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, the Taliban forbids nearly 1.4 million adolescent girls from going to school under their system of gender apartheid. Despite the escalating oppression they face, women and girls are resisting by continuing to learn, sharing their stories with the world and speaking out for their rights. Malala Fund’s response to this crisis includes global advocacy grants to Afghan women activists and civil society organisations campaigning for the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime under international law, and education in emergencies grants to partners providing alternative and digital learning programmes for girls inside the country.

Learn More

Support Malala’s fight for girls’ education

With more than 122 million girls out of school today, she needs your help to reach the most vulnerable girls denied an education.

Your gift today is an investment in Malala Fund's work to help girls around the world go to school.