We’re delighted that the CBM UK-supported SAGE project was recognised with a Times Higher Education Award last week. Our project partner, The Open University, collected the International Collaboration of the Year Award for the development of a community-based, non-formal inclusive education pathway for Zimbabwe’s most marginalised girls.
SAGE project wins Times Higher Education Award for girls’ inclusive education pathway
Posted on:
Tuesday, November 18th, 2025
Across the world, girls face many challenges in accessing education. For girls with disabilities, these barriers are amplified by disability-related discrimination and stigma. That’s why our Supporting Adolescent Girls’ Education (SAGE) project is strengthening community-based, non-formal inclusive education pathways for Zimbabwe’s most marginalised girls, including girls with disabilities.
Funded by UK aid from the UK government, it represents a unique collaboration involving The Open University, Plan International Zimbabwe, CBM UK, Apostolic Women Empowerment Trust, and The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Zimbabwe.
Since 2018, SAGE has successfully improved learning outcomes, life skills and confidence for over 22,000 girls with disabilities. It has done this by addressing gender and disability barriers to learning, for example by creating community-based learning hubs and vocational training opportunities, training local educators to use inclusive and gender responsive teaching methodologies, and enabling safe and inclusive learning environments.
Elfreda Whitty, CBM UK’s Programme Manager, who attended the awards ceremony in Edinburgh, said:
“I was so honoured to represent my CBM Zimbabwe colleagues at the Times Higher Education Awards on Thursday in Edinburgh after our SAGE consortium won the Best International Collaboration of the Year Award.”
“The CBM team, led by Joannes Mbaimbai and Obert Chigodora in Zimbabwe, have shown incredible dedication to ensuring that girls with disabilities are included in this innovative non-formal education programme, giving these girls a real chance of quality inclusive education and life-skills. Our brilliant consortium of Plan International, the Open University and AWET, has demonstrated true partnership, and I’ve loved being part of this wonderful team and seeing the huge impact it has had on the lives of thousands of adolescent women and girls in Zimbabwe.”
From all at CBM UK, congratulations!
Read more about the impact of the SAGE project in our Project Evidence Brief
Read quotes from project participants as part of our Disability Voices Paper
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