Girl Child Education Fund

  • F Funding Initiative/Portfolio

? Activity Status: Unknown

Key Information

The Florence Nightingale International Foundation, founded in 1927 and registered in the UK, is the charitable arm of the International Council of Nurses. In 2005, FNIF launched the Girl Child Education Fund, with the mission of supporting access to education for the orphaned daughters of nurses in developing countries. Why daughters and not sons? Regrettably, when tragedy hits a family, it is highly likely that it will be the girls that are taken out of education. GCEF was a response by the nursing community to support the objectives of the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, which put education for girls and women high on the agenda. In 2012, the UN drew attention to the fact that there were still 31 million of girls out of school. In response to this sad fact, FNIF decided to expand its support of the GCEF, and to actively seek donations and additional sponsorship, through the FNIF Endowment Fund. GCEF is different to most charities. It has an army of direct support on the ground; they are called nurses. Each GCEF beneficiary is supported by a nurse-mentor, who will provide assistance and guidance throughout the girl’s education, and of course frequently way beyond. As a result, GCEF is highly successful, as demonstrated by the table below.


Lead Implementing Organization(s)

Location(s)

Sub-Saharan Africa

Eswatini, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia

Activity URL

http://gcef.ch/#home

Government Affiliation

Non-governmental program

Years

2012 -

Partner(s)

International Council of Nurses (ICN)

Ministry Affiliation

Unknown

Funder(s)

Not applicable or unknown

COVID-19 Response

Unknown

Geographic Scope

Global / regional

Meets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES  

Unknown

Areas of Work Back to Top

Education areas

Attainment

  • Post-secondary
  • Primary completion
  • Primary enrollment
  • Primary to secondary transition
  • Secondary completion

Cross-cutting areas

  • Mentorship

Program participants

Target Audience(s)

Girls out of school, Youth

Age

Not applicable or unknown

School Enrolment Status

All out of school

School Level

Not applicable or unknown

Other populations reached

Not applicable or unknown

Participants include

  • Orphans and vulnerable children

Program Approaches Back to Top

Mentoring/psychosocial support

  • Adult (non-teacher) mentors

Reducing economic barriers

  • Scholarships/stipends for school fees

Program Goals Back to Top

Education goals

  • Increased grade attainment
  • Increased school completion (general)
  • Increased school enrolment (general)
  • Increased years of schooling

Cross-cutting goals

  • Improved maternal, newborn, and/or child health (MNCH)

Additional Information Back to Top

Primary Contact

Florence Nightingale International Foundation (FNIF)
gcef@icn.ch
+41229080100