Through Projet AIDE, FHI 360 partners with Djibouti’s Ministry of Education (MENESUP) to improve primary education by strengthening education systems and policies. The project operates in all 100 schools in Djibouti and integrates gender strategies into all its work.

Projet AIDE has supported the MENESUP’s planning unit to install and use a new sustainable education management information system (EMIS), known as Global ED*ASSIST, which now provides national, regional and school-level data at each administrative level. The project continues to help MENESUP produce the Annual Education Data Report and to develop the MENESUP’s capacity to analyze and report data for decentralized planning and management. Projet AIDE has trained government officials, educators and parent-teacher associations (PTAs) to use tools such as FQEL (Fundamental Quality and Equity Level) and school report cards to monitor school performance and improve local decision making for planning and budgeting purposes.

Projet AIDE equips MENESUP and the national teacher training college to provide decentralized teacher training through development of national policy and training plans, computer-equipped teacher resource centers, improved school capacity to provide ongoing workshops, and school-based support to strengthen French-language instruction. The project strengthens the capacity of PTAs to participate in school improvement planning and help manage small in-kind grants that support improvements in reading and promote girls’ retention in primary schools.

Projet AIDE has developed MENESUP’s capacity to deliver market-driven vocational education and functional literacy training for out-of-school youth, utilizing local training centers with support from the government, nongovernmental organizations and innovative public–private partnerships developed by FHI 360. The partnerships link nonformal training programs to private-sector firms that provide internships and on-the-job training for youth, particularly girls.