Q&A: Dr Pamela Cipriano on why girls’ education matters

As health systems across the world face extraordinary pressure, nursing staff are important advocates for fairness, dignity, and justice.     

Few people understand this more deeply than Dr Pamela Cipriano: former President of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), past President of the American Nurses Association, and Professor Emerita at the University of Virginia.  

At this year’s RCN Congress, Pamela will take to the stage alongside clinical psychologist and trauma specialist Mozhdeh Ghasemiyani, whose work with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Danish health care system centres on supporting the psychological resilience needed to overcome trauma, something many nursing professionals experience working in conflict and extreme humanitarian settings.  

Together, they will explore how adversity, trauma and inequity shape lives and communities, and how nursing staff – wherever they practise – have the power to influence a more just and compassionate world. 

For Pamela, one powerful example of this global solidarity is the Girl Child Education Fund (GCEF) – an ICN programme that supports the daughters of nurses who’ve died, often from epidemics or in high-risk care environments.

At RCN Congress, she’ll share not only the impact of this transformative fund, but also the broader call for nursing staff to stand together, advocate without hesitation, and recognise their collective influence on the future. 

Below, she speaks with RCN Magazine Editor Bethan Rees about the fund’s origins, the ripple effects of girls’ education, and what she hopes RCN members will take away from her talk. 

What is the Girl Child Education Fund (GCEF), and how did it begin? 

The GCEF grew out of ICN’s research and policy development to understand the needs of young girls in urban areas, recognizing they were vulnerable to gender discrimination and often had fewer rights than boys, including reduced access to nutrition, health care and education.

Following on, the Swedish and Botswana nurses' associations established a pilot to test methodologies to support the healthy development of girls aged 10 to 14. Around the same time, sub-Saharan Africa was facing the devastating peak of the AIDS epidemic.

Many nurses, often both parents in a family, were dying. It became clear there was a generation of girls being orphaned because their parents had been caring for others on the front line. The fund was created to honour those nurses while supporting their children’s futures. 

Today, more than 20 years on, it continues to support girls in four countries: Eswatini (Swaziland), Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. The fund has helped more than 450 young girls to go on to significant careers, move out of poverty, and fundamentally, to get an education. The fund helps provide essentials such as tuition, books, uniforms, transport and daily meals.

Why is the fund important to global nursing and global health? 

Nursing staff naturally want to give back, we want to see people succeed. This project really grew out of recognising that this was a way to help those who are less fortunate and looking at helping future generations. 

There’s no requirement that these girls become health care staff; the focus is simply on giving them the chance to succeed. For many contributors, this is a meaningful way to acknowledge colleagues who lost their lives helping others.

Over the years, national nursing associations and individual nursing staff have sustained the fund because they see its impact on families where girls would not have access to education or would have to drop out to support their families. 

How does investing in girls’ education influence health outcomes for communities? 

Educated girls grow into women who lift communities. Women are the caregivers, the health decision-makers, the advocates for justice. When you educate a girl, particularly in an impoverished country, you change not only her trajectory, but the wellbeing of her entire family and community. 

We’ve seen graduates of the programme grow into remarkable leaders: nurses, lawyers, teachers, IT specialists, health advocates. One recipient became an advocate in the High Court of Kenya; another received an award for fighting HIV stigma in Uganda. These are women creating change. 

And this sits in a global reality: women still enjoy only around 64% of the rights afforded to men, according to United Nations Women. In some countries, girls are still barred from school or work. Supporting a girl’s education is one of the most fundamental ways to shift those structures. 

Why is it important to talk about this now, when philanthropy is stretched across so many urgent global causes? 

The philanthropic landscape is crowded. Climate crises, famine, refugee needs, political turmoil – everyone needs money. Everyone wants to find their favourite cause. Smaller programmes like the GCEF can easily be overshadowed by these massive global issues. 

But that’s exactly why we must highlight it. We know that money is precious, but at the same time, we believe this is a very special way nursing staff can give back, supporting a better future for girls who lost their parents who were nurses. 

Beyond the fund itself, what message do you want nursing staff to hear about shaping a fairer future? 

The nursing profession has always fought for social justice, whether that’s voting rights, reproductive rights, workplace safety, or freedom from violence and harassment. All nursing staff have a role in advancing those causes.  

We also have an ethical imperative to be responsible citizens. Thus, as a global profession, our responsibility extends beyond our own borders.  

This will be your first RCN Congress. What are you most excited about?

I can’t wait to meet RCN members, to hear what’s happening in their world, their practice, their communities. I’ve followed the issues facing UK nursing staff closely, and visiting last year to speak with the RCN International Committee impressed me just how committed RCN members are to advancing their profession. 

I’m always energised by conversations with frontline nursing staff and leaders. Their passion mirrors everything I’ve experienced through my own career. 

What can delegates expect from your speech? 

I’ll be talking about the Girl Child Education Fund as a window into how nursing staff can help secure a better future for disadvantaged girls whose parents made the ultimate sacrifice. It’s an invitation to reflect on how we support others, just as we relate to the importance of advocating for ourselves, our fellow nursing staff, and our profession. 

Finally, what do you hope people take away from your Congress speech? 

I want people to have a deeper awareness of just how restricted girls’ and women’s rights and opportunities remain in many parts of the world, and how profoundly education shapes the future.

Being able to provide funding to create that pathway for future personal development and success is so critical, and so underfunded. 

While the fund helps 70 to 75 girls a year, this is just the tip of the iceberg. We can continue to make a difference here and spread those success stories. They demonstrate what’s possible, and they can inspire broader support at a time when resources are stretched.