Indian NGO 'Educate Girls' Wins Prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award
Indian non-profit organization 'Educate Girls' has been awarded the 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Award, often called Asia's Nobel Prize. The foundation is the first Indian NGO to receive this honour. It was recognized for its extensive work in mobilizing communities and government resources to advance girls' education in India's rural and educationally underserved areas. Founded by Safeena Husain in 2007, the organization has reached over two million girls across 30,000 villages, significantly improving enrollment and retention rates.
Unpacked:
The Ramon Magsaysay Award, established in 1957, honors individuals and organizations in Asia for outstanding service and leadership. It is often called Asia's Nobel Prize due to its prestige, rigorous selection process, and its focus on impactful public service across the continent.
Educate Girls uses technology-driven door-to-door surveys to identify out-of-school girls. Local volunteers, called Team Balika, mobilize communities, counsel families, and support enrollment, ensuring girls are registered in schools and monitoring their continued attendance.
Major challenges include cultural stereotypes, poverty, gender discrimination, early marriage, and lack of infrastructure. Educate Girls addresses these through community engagement, mindset change, and collaboration with local governments.
Since 2007, Educate Girls has grown from working in Rajasthan to operating in over 30,000 villages, reaching more than two million girls. They launched initiatives like the Pragati open-schooling program and the world's first Development Impact Bond in education, aiming for even wider future expansion.