Focus on Success

An exhibition celebrating the remarkable achievements of young African women

In 2005, girls’ education is the focus of international attention as the Millennium Development Goal for gender equity in education is brought under the spotlight. To mark the start of this important year and to celebrate the power of education, Camfed, with support from UNICEF, DFID, the Make Poverty History campaign and the Commonwealth Secretariat, launched the photographic exhibition Focus on Success as a major contribution to UNGEI - the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative.

The photographs in the exhibition have been drawn from images taken by photojournalist Mark Read on location in Zimbabwe. These photographs were first published in Camfed’s book I Have a Story to Tell. At a time when very few positive images are coming out of Africa, the Focus on Success collection displays a sensitive and very real side to the challenges and triumphs facing women and girls in rural communities of Africa.

On Wednesday 26th January more than 250 guests joined Camfed for the launch of the Focus on Success exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society, London. The exhibition was introduced by Carol Bellamy, Chief Executive of UNICEF, and Gareth Thomas MP, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, who endorsed Camfed’s work and championed support for girls’ education.

During the evening guests also heard young women from Zimbabwe and Ghana speak of their own experience of the transformative power of education. Angeline Mugwendere, one of the first girls to be supported through school by Camfed in 1993 and now Director of CAMA, the young women’s network established with Camfed’s support, challenged those present to urgently support the current generation of girls in Africa to go to school:

“Action and commitment to girls is what will keep girls in school. If the meetings held and promises made were translated into genuine actions taken and costs met the 115 million children out of school today would be in school. We cannot afford to ignore even a single girl’s plight.”

Immediately after the launch the exhibition was displayed at DFID’s headquarters in London and will be shown in various venues across the country throughout the year. Watch this space for details of further events.