Indian NGO ‘Educate Girls’ wins Magsaysay Award for empowering out-of-school girls in villages
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Indian NGO ‘Educate Girls’ wins Magsaysay Award for empowering out-of-school girls in villages")
Logo of the nonprofit, the ‘Foundation to Educate Girls Globally’, widely known as ‘Educate Girls’
The NGO brings out-of-school girls into classrooms, supports them to continue their education, and works to break cultural barriers that limit their opportunities. It has enrolled over 1.1 million girls and impacted more than 15.5 million people across India.
An Indian nonprofit, 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, which is considered Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. It recognises selfless service and greatness of spirit in Asia. The 67th Ramon Magsaysay Award presentation is scheduled for November 7 at the Metropolitan Theatre in Manila.
The NGO has enrolled over 1.1 million girls and impacted more than 15.5 million people across India. It brings out-of-school girls into classrooms, supports them to continue their education, and works to break cultural barriers that limit their opportunities. The NGO was founded by Safeena Husain to empower out-of-school girls in remote villages.
Husain, 54, founded ‘Educate Girls’ in 2007 in Rajasthan to empower out-of-school girls in remote villages.
Safeena, a London School of Economics graduate, returned to India in 2005 from San Francisco with the aim of tackling female illiteracy.
“Being the first Indian non-profit to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award is a historic moment for Educate Girls and for the country,” news agency PTI quoted Husain as saying.
“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,” she added.
Safeena’s husband is a prominent personality, filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who has made movies on social issues, among other subjects.
‘Educate Girls’ was recognised for Asia’s premier prize and highest honour “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 added.
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The NGO, in 2015, launched the world’s first Development Impact Bond (DIB) in education, linking financial aid directly to measurable outcomes.
“It began with 50 pilot village schools and eventually reached over 30,000 villages across India’s most underserved regions, benefiting more than two million girls, with a retention rate exceeding 90 per cent,” it said.
The organisation also introduced Pragati, an open-schooling programme that allows young women aged 15–29 to complete their education and access lifelong opportunities. The programme started with 300 learners and has since expanded to cover 31,500 participants.
Other 2025 winners include Shaahina Ali from the Maldives for her environmental work and Flaviano Antonio L. Villanueva from the Philippines. Each recipient will receive a medallion, a certificate, and a cash prize.
