Indian organization 'Educate Girls' secures first-ever Ramon Magsaysay Award recognition.

Educate Girls Receives Prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award

Educate Girls, an organisation founded by Safeena Husain in 2007, has been honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award. Known as the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize, this prestigious accolade recognises individuals and organisations who have made a significant impact in Asia through selfless service to the peoples of Asia.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award was given to Educate Girls for its commitment to addressing cultural stereotyping through the education of girls and young women. The organisation's people-powered movement for girls' education, which began with a single girl in a remote village and grew to reshape entire communities, challenging traditions and shifting mindsets, was praised in the award statement.

Educate Girls has made a remarkable impact, with over two million girls benefiting from its initiatives. The organisation boasts a retention rate of over 90%, a testament to its success in liberating girls from the bondage of illiteracy and infusing them with skills, courage, and agency to achieve their full human potential.

One of Educate Girls' initiatives is the Pragati programme, an open-schooling programme for young women. Another groundbreaking initiative is the world's first Development Impact Bond in education.

Safeena Husain, the founder of Educate Girls, returned to India from the London School of Economics with a mission to tackle female illiteracy. She started the organisation's operations in Rajasthan and has since expanded it across underserved regions.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award ceremony will be held on November 7 in Manila. Safeena Husain considers the award a historic moment for Educate Girls and for India. Alongside Educate Girls, other winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award include Shaahina Ali, a diver in the Maldives, and Rev. Flaviano Antonio Villanueva, a Filipino priest.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award places a global spotlight on India's people-powered movement for girls' education, highlighting the strides made in empowering women and girls through education. As the Central Sector Scholarship 2025-26 application process begins, the focus on education and its transformative power remains at the forefront.