Malala Fund's 2025-2026 annual report highlights our work to change the systems and policies that keep girls out of school.
As the former Chief Executive for Nigeria, and now the CEO of Malala Fund, I have the privilege of hearing directly from girls around the world who are learning against all odds — like Farah in a refugee camp in Egypt; Fatima in her bedroom in Afghanistan; Silvia in her remote school in northern Brazil; and Khadija in a rural community in Nigeria. Through war, extreme restrictions on their rights, geographic barriers and early marriage, they find hope and freedom in education. They are not statistics. They are the full, vibrant human beings with hopes and plans for their futures who Malala Fund serves.
I became CEO of Malala Fund in April with a deep conviction, shaped by years working at the intersection of economic policy and gender equity, that girls’ education is one of the most consequential investments any government or donor can make.
When girls cannot complete secondary school, the world loses an estimated $15–30 trillion in productivity and earnings. Girls' education shapes GDP growth, labour force participation, financial inclusion and health outcomes across generations. The numbers and the proof are there. The question is whether we act on the evidence before us.
More than 122 million girls are out of school today. The barriers they face are concrete: in Afghanistan, the Taliban continues to ban girls from secondary education; in Nigeria and Tanzania, child marriage and early motherhood push girls out of school before they can complete it; in Pakistan, a shortage of female teachers and the cost of schooling prevent girls from attending; and in conflict zones like Sudan and Palestine, war and displacement make learning a daily act of courage.
National policy commitments and global promises, on their own, cannot overcome these barriers. It is civil society organisations embedded in communities that deliver and sustain true progress — building evidence, challenging social norms, convening coalitions and holding governments accountable for turning commitments into funded, implemented action. And young women, agents of change in their own right, are at the forefront of this work. I am proud that 66% of our Education Champion Network funding this year went to organisations they lead.
Through the report that follows, we aim to show you the five-year strategy we launched last year in action: how local advocates, civil society coalitions and governments working together can shift the policies, financing and systems that determine whether a girl gets to finish school. My commitment, as I lead this organisation into its next chapter, is to deepen and accelerate that work — and to make the case that girls' education is a catalytic investment that makes all progress possible. Thank you for believing in girls.