Promoting Girls' Education in Mali

The project aims to improve the educational outcomes of more than 16 000 adolescent girls (between the ages of 13 and 15) in the second cycle of basic education in Mali. The project works to: (1) improve access and retention of adolescent girls in targeted schools in the Segou region; and (2) strengthen capacities of the Ministry of National Education to reduce education barriers and promote quality and gender-sensitive education at the national level. Project activities include: (1) providing information sessions and support to adolescent girls and boys to promote girls' right to education and their sexual and reproductive health and rights; (2) providing training and support to parent-teacher associations to promote the reduction of harmful practices that prevent adolescent girls from accessing and staying in school; (3) creating adolescent girls' clubs to enable girls to express their needs safely; (4) providing training and support for staff of the National Directorate of Basic Education in gender-sensitive analysis and programming; and (5) supporting the Ministry of National Education to strengthen its capacity to collect monitor analyse and publish reports on girls' enrolment.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased equitable access for adolescent girls including those with disabilities to quality and inclusive education and a safe learning environment in the Ségou region; and (2) improved professional practices of the Ministry of National Education officials including decentralized structures and teachers to promote the inclusion and learning of adolescent girls.