New 15m EUR education project in Central African Republic will give 5000 children access to inclusive, quality education
An agreement with French Development Agency AFD worth over 15 million euro will enable FCA, as lead in a consortium, to provide holistic support to children and their families to help them both access and stay in quality education.
Children in Central African Republic (CAR) have severe challenges accessing quality education. Organsations like the World Bank and UNESCO estimate that learning poverty – defined as the share of children unable to read and understand an age-appropriate text by ten – stands at 89 per cent. Dropping out is also a huge problem, with only half of boys and less than half of girls finishing primary school. As children get older, the situation becomes worse, with only 8.3 per cent of girls and 13.5 per cent of boys completing secondary school.
FCA is starting a new 15 million euro education project in the country, funded by the French Development Agency (AFD). Led by FCA, the project will be implemented by a consortium of NGOs, including the Central African Women’s Organisation (OFCA), The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) and Mercy Corps.
Quality education experience in CAR
With over a decade of experience in Central African Republic, FCA’s local country team are well-placed to understand the needs of children, families and their communities. In a gesture of recognition of that experience, this is the first time that AFD has funded an FCA project.
“Our staff in Central African Republic have been working nearly for two years to gain a collaboration agreement with AFD to assist children and young people to have quality access to schooling,” says Marja Jörgensen, Director for International Programmes.
“This would not have been possible without the hard work and strong commitment of the FCA Central African Republic team leadership and staff.”
Education solutions must be comprehensive
Because the hurdles to access education are myriad and complex, the solutions to remove them are many and comprehensive. The project will not only focus on the schools themselves – refurbishing classrooms, providing good sanitation facilities, teacher training – but also more widely in the community, as describes Country Director Marcel Damba,
“Outside of the classroom, we’ll also develop protection activities like alert systems; counselling centres and protection committees. We’ll also engage parents and families through projects to generate income and by setting up parent-teacher associations and school management committees. Additionally, we’ll help people access necessary documentation, such as birth certifications; provide accelerated education programmes for drop-outs who wish to rejoin education; and use radio broadcasts to reach people for training purposes.”
Five thousand children will be able to access quality education
Lasting four years, the project will initially target people in the prefectures of Mambéré-Kadéï and Mambéré. With a budget of EUR 15,463,917, it will be the largest active education project in Central African Republic.
Mr Damba continues: “the overall objective is to help children and young people realise their potential and build their resilience to reduce inequalities and ensure a fair, peaceful and inclusive future for them in the Central African Republic. The project will take advantage of this reconstruction momentum to bring about lasting changes in procedures, policies and structures, by promoting equality between women and men, and in this way help to bring the crisis to an end and support the consolidation of peace.”
Five thousand children will benefit from the project, which will officially start on 1st of September 2024.
Find out more about our work in Central African Republic.