FHI 360 and its partners — Save the Children, ENDA Jeunesse Action, and Humanity and Inclusion — received a five-year award from the U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to improve access to high-quality, relevant education for children in southern Senegal. The goal will be to reach more than 259,000 children and youth in four regions: Kedougou, Kolda, Sedhiou and Ziguinchor.
Significant challenges to equitable access to education, including poverty, safety and educational quality, persist in post-conflict regions of southern Senegal. Young people in these regions can be hindered from completing or even starting their education, and this lack of academic and life skills can damage their potential to become employed, engage civically and lead healthy lives.
To address these challenges, the team behind FHI 360’s Equitable Access to Education in Southern Senegal project will employ an evidence-based approach that builds on best practices in conflict-sensitive and inclusive education, gender equality and social inclusion, and positive youth development. The team will work closely with the Ministry of Education, community leaders and youth to build local ownership for all activities and programs. Together, they will:
- Strengthen and extend complementary basic education services to ensure flexible pathways into the formal education system and professional or vocational training
- Improve the relevance, quality and inclusiveness of formal education services
- Support children in successfully making the transition from primary to secondary school by removing social, economic and institutional barriers
- Empower families and communities to recognize their voice in and ownership of local education services
FHI 360 has extensive experience with the Senegalese education system and expertise in equity, gender, education in conflict and crisis, and positive youth development across Africa. Most recently, FHI 360 partnered with Senegal’s Ministry of Education on USAID’s Éducation de Base project to shape national middle school curriculum reforms, train teachers and develop innovative approaches to improving middle school quality. Our work with the Equitable Access to Education in Southern Senegal project will build on this experience and that of other USAID initiatives in this country.
