UNITED NATIONS GIRLS EDUCATION INITIATIVE

The government is committed to achieving goals set at the Dakar World Education Forum, in particular to improve the quality of education. Conventional and non-conventional modes of education are encouraged, including community-based and Koranic schools

Casamance, in the south of Senegal, has been severely affected by a conflict between the government and armed rebels. Over the years, hundreds of villages have been abandoned and schools and health centres have closed.

Barriers to Girls’ Education

• Poverty;
• Discrepancy between supply and demand in some areas;
• Poor quality of school buildings;
• Distance to schools and lack of security for girls

UNGEI in Action

The UNGEI partnership has not been formalized in Senegal.  However, an Action Plan will be devised for 2006 through 2010 and will aim at creating a framework for all the actors and partners working for girls’ education.  

The UNGEI partnership will aim at:

• Improving living conditions of local populations, particularly of women to allow them to free their daughters from housework and send them to school.
• Building sufficient elementary and junior high schools that are within reach of students;
• Improving the school environment by implementing “the essential learning package” in order to provide both girls and boys with the same chances of access and support.

Partnership

Partners for girls’ education include United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Committee for Students for the promotion of girls’ education (CNEPSCOFI), the National Committee for the integration of handicapped persons (CORIPH), Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), Plan International, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and non-governmental organizations.

These partnerships, however, are not within the framework of the UNGEI initiative, and so far, their impact has been somewhat weak.

UNGEI within other National and International Frameworks

The Common Country Assessment/United Nations Development Assistance Framework (CCA/UNDAF) is in the national framework.