Safeena Husain, Founder of Educate Girls, receives the prestigious London School of Economics Honorary Doctorate for Championing Girls’ Education in India

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) awarded a prestigious Honorary Doctorate to Safeena Husain, Founder of Educate Girls, in recognition of her exemplary contribution to girls’ education in India. This honour, awarded on May 29, 2024, in London, is a testament to the global recognition of Safeena’s instrumental work through her non-profit, Educate Girls.

Educate Girls, an Indian nonprofit founded in 2007, is dedicated to expanding access to girls’ education in India’s underserved villages. Under Safeena’s leadership, the organisation has mobilised over 18 lakh girls for school enrolment and provided remedial learning support to over 22 lakh students through the efforts of nearly 20,000 community-based gender champions in India’s most marginalised communities.

LSE reserves Honorary Doctorates for individuals who have demonstrated significant achievements in scholarship or public service. Safeena joins a distinguished group of LSE honorary doctorate recipients, including Prof. Muhammad Yunus (founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel Peace Prize laureate), Prof. Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the internet), and Prof. Klaus Schwab (Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum). Notably, esteemed Indian figures like Raghuram Rajan and Jagdish Bhagwati are also among the recipients.

LSE alum Safeena spearheaded Educate Girls’ rise to global prominence, harnessing innovative financing and technology to bridge the gender gap in education: Educate Girls delivered the world’s first Development Impact Bond in education and became Asia’s first TED Audacious Project. Most recently, in 2023, Safeena became the first Indian woman to become a WISE Prize Laureate, one of the most prestigious awards in the global education landscape.

LSE President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Larry Kramer, who presented the award to Safeena, shared that “Safeena Husain is a champion for the pressing cause of girls’ education and a pioneering social entrepreneur – in the language of LSE’s 100x Accelerator, she has built a “social unicorn,” or an enterprise that, through its combination of technical innovation and cultural intelligence, is making a significant positive impact on society on a massive scale. LSE could not be prouder of her, both as an alum and as a humanitarian fulfilling the promise of our School’s mission.”

Safeena expressed her gratitude for the honour and emphasised the profound impact of her LSE education during her acceptance speech. She added, “Education is a girl’s fundamental human right and a powerful catalyst for change, positively impacting issues like child marriage, poverty, health, and climate change. It influences nine out of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. Given the size of the challenge today, our goal is to enhance access to quality education for 10 million learners within the next 10 years.”

The recognition of Safeena Husain and Educate Girls by LSE signifies a new milestone in their mission to empower girls through education. This prestigious honour coincides with Educate Girls’ recent Social Stock Exchange (SSE) listing, further amplifying their contributions to social change.

About Educate Girls

Educate Girls is a non-profit that collaborates with state governments and mobilises village communities for girls’ education in India’s rural and educationally backward areas in alignment with the ‘Right to Education Act’ and “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.” Since 2007, in partnership with state governments, Educate Girls has mobilised over 18 lakh girls for school enrolment in over 29,000 villages of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.

www.EducateGirls.ngo

About the London School of Economics

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is an internationally renowned university specialising in the social sciences. Its expertise spans a wide range of disciplines, from economics, politics and law, to sociology, health policy, accounting and finance.  Established in 1895, the original vision of LSE as ‘a community of people and ideas, founded to know the causes of things, for the betterment of society’ remains true to this day. For more information, visit lse.ac.uk