"With a wide support system, change is inevitable."
Dar es Salaam, July 10, 2025 — As part of her first visit to Tanzania, Malala met with local education advocates and Malala Fund grant partners to deepen her understanding of the progress and persistent barriers girls face in the country. The visit marks a key moment in Malala Fund’s long-term commitment to supporting grassroots efforts to advance girls’ secondary education in Tanzania. Today, in a dynamic exchange, Malala and local education leaders came together to share stories, policy priorities and personal reflections.
Opening the discussion, Malala highlighted Malala Fund’s strategic direction: “We will protect the right to education for every girl and secure the resources for her to be able to go to school. We know this work is possible because of the collective work of local activists. My journey and my father’s journey of activism began as local activists — and I know it remains a powerful way of transforming communities.”
The panel brought together four inspiring women from organisations Malala Fund partners with in Tanzania. They shared what gives them hope for the future:
Nuria Mshare, gender and development expert at HakiElimu, highlighted the community-level progress they’re seeing: “What inspires me is the resilience of girls themselves. We are seeing girls returning to school and that to me is really hopeful. It gives me a lot of courage to continue our work. I’m happy that our work is making an impact on the community, that girls are going back to school and their parents are supporting them in their education. That is my greatest hope.”
Furahini Michael, programmes manager at Msichana Initiative, spoke with heartfelt optimism: “My biggest hope is the belief that I have deep down in my heart that in Tanzania we’ll arrive to a time when girls’ wings will never be broken. Girls can fly, girls can unleash their potential, girls can enjoy being girls without worrying that they are already someone’s wife or someone’s mother at a young age. I hope that girls can really unleash their potential, that they can dream as much as they want and no one is forcing them to dream small.”
Nasra Kibukila, head of programmes at TEN/MET, focused on systemic progress: “The hope, our wish, is a vision that I really wish to be a reality — that we see girls enrol, retain, complete their education cycle and transcend to higher levels.”
Mawi Zahor, senior operations and partnerships officer at Hope 4 Young Girls, emphasised the role of collaboration: “With a wide support system, change is inevitable... and with the stakeholders we work with, we have seen the change and we actually want it more and more.”
Malala Fund's partners are leading the fight to dismantle systemic barriers to girls’ education in Tanzania — from re-entry policies to ending child marriage and beyond and we are so proud to support them.
