Burkina Faso MCC Girls' Primary Education Project

Two international NGOs (Plan International Burkina and the Catholic Relief Services) and two national NGOs (FAWE and Tin Tua) came together to form the BRIGHT consortium and were awarded the contract to implement the project.

As the only Threshold program to address education, it is ambitiously aimed at increasing access to and improving the quality of education for girls. Funding will finance the construction of 132 schools and complementary services in 10 of the most educationally disadvantaged provinces in the country.

The event received wide-spread media attention. Ambassador Jackson won overwhelming praise from the crowd by reading an indigenous proverb, in the local language of the region, to illustrate the importance of ongoing friendship between the U.S. and Burkina Faso. In an unprecedented show of support for collaboration between the two governments, the Minister of Basic Education,

Mme Odile Bonkoungoudelivered several lines of her speech in English and stressed that this project was the result of the excellent cooperation between the governments of Burkina Faso and the United States of America. Mme Bonkoungou and Ambassador Jackson then proceeded to the laying of the foundation stone of the first school complex at Koutoula-Yarcé.

On July 22, 2005, the Government of Burkina Faso and USAID/WA signed a Strategic Objective Grant Agreement to support girls' primary education. The initiative, part of the Millennium Challenge Account's Threshold Country Program, provides $12.9 million over a two year period to improve enrollment and attendance rates of girls in primary schools. The project is to build 132 "girls friendly" school complexes in 10 provinces of the country (Banwa, Gnagna, Komanjari, Namentenga, Oudalan, Sanmatenga, Seno, Soum,Tapoa, and Yagha). The complexes will include 396 classrooms, 396 teacher housing units, 132 tubewells, 132 school canteens, 9,900 student's desks, 264 separate boys and girls' latrines. The staff would consist of 396 teachers, 7,920 trained mother mentors, 23,703 pupils with books and school supplies, 20 teachers awarded for merit, 400 tons of take home dry rations for girls, and 33 nurseries. Its total cost in CFAF is 6.5 billion. (read background story)

While waiting for the grant to be awarded to the implementing partners, the government of Bukina Faso opened the schools in temporary shelters and enrolled 4,959 students in 70 schools during the 2005-2006 school year versus the 3,300 initially planned. The percentage of girls recruited compared to boys' averages around 53%, with a peak of 60% in the Oudalan Province. Attendance rates during this first year were nearly 100% everywhere. At this point in time, all activities scheduled are being carried out in full swing. The first school building and teacher housing units at Koutoula-Yarcé are near completion. 61% of the boreholes have been drilled. The beneficiary communities are mobilized and highly supportive. It is expected that by the end of February 2007, construction of all 132 schools and teacher housing units will have been completed.