Mumbai: The Foundation to Educate Girls Globally, widely known as ‘Educate Girls’, has made history as the first Indian organisation to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award, a statement from the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) said on Sunday. Considered the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize, the Ramon Magsaysay Award recognises the greatness of spirit shown in selfless service to the peoples of Asia.
About Educate Girls
Educate Girls, founded by Safeena Husain, has been named for the award for “its commitment to addressing cultural stereotyping through the education of girls and young women, liberating them from the bondage of illiteracy and infusing them with skills, courage, and agency to achieve their full human potential,” the RMAF statement said.
Reflecting on the milestone, Husain said, “Being the first Indian non-profit to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award is a historic moment for Educate Girls and for the country. This recognition places a global spotlight on India’s people-powered movement for girls’ education, one that began with a single girl in the remotest village and grew to reshape entire communities, challenging traditions and shifting mindsets.”
“As we work to reach 10 million learners in the next decade and share this blueprint beyond India, we carry forward a simple truth that when one girl is educated, she takes others with her, multiplying change across families, generations, and nations,” Husain added.
About Other Winners
The other winners included Filipino priest Rev. Flaviano Antonio Villanueva, who publicly protested against then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody crackdown against illegal drugs despite death threats and helped provide proper funerals to slain suspects. Shaahina Ali, a diver in the Maldives who sparked a movement to save her island nation from plastic pollution with massive cleanups and recycling, was the third winner. The awardees will each receive a medallion, certificate, and cash prize. The presentation ceremonies will be held on November 7 in Manila.
Educate Girls was founded in 2007 by Husain, a London School of Economics graduate who returned to India to tackle female illiteracy. Starting in Rajasthan, it expanded across underserved regions, impacting over two million girls with a retention rate of over 90%. Its initiatives include the world’s first Development Impact Bond in education and Pragati, an open-schooling programme for young women.
