Burkina Faso is among four countries benefiting from the signing of new commitments to education projects, which took place at the United Nations fifth Least Developed Countries conference in Doha on Tuesday.
Education Above All (EAA) and the Qatar Fund For Development (QFFD) hosted a roundtable discussion which included ministers from Bangladesh, Liberia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Nigeria, Malawai and the State of Palestine.
The “Out of School Children – Linking across sectors for Success” aimed to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of sharing best practices, when it comes to providing access to primary education for children in LDCs where EAA has a presence.
The discussion was followed by the official signings of new commitments for EAA projects in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Liberia and Senegal.
These new projects will ensure more than 785,060 out-of-school primary children are committed to enrolling in education between now and March 2027.
In Burkina Faso Education Above All and their partner Educate A Child will work on BuildOn2. The Enrol OOSC Project: Break the Cycle of Poverty aims to reach over 21,000 out-of-school children by early 2027 through their work partnering with rural communities to empower local residents to build schools and enrol children.
One such child is 9-year-old Tong Nooma Nestor, who was identified as an out-of-school child by BuildOn in 2022. His schooling had been delayed due to a speech impediment that slowed down his language skills in class. Since being enrolled, Nestor’s teacher, GuigmaSalamata, says he is now one of the best students. Nestor dreams of becoming a police officer one day because he wants to secure his village and protect his parents against any threat of terrorists.
Hosting the discussion Fahad Al-Sulaiti, CEO of Education Above All urged everyone to build on what was agreed at LDC5: “To prepare for the upcoming SDG [Summit] in September 2023, policymakers need to work together to assess existing shortcomings and discover the best way to address them to avoid effects on the global economy”.
Speaking at the event, Mr Khalifa Al Kuwari, Director General of Qatar Fund for Development, said the Doha programme of action for these developing countries coincides with the decade of action to deliver the Sustainable Development goals. This is a very critical time for our generation to deliver sustained results on various topics, chief of which is leaving no one behind, especially when it comes to education.
The 46 least developed countries (LDCs) are defined, by the United Nations, as low-income countries facing multiple challenges that prevent them from sustainable growth. The LDCs represent around 880 million people which is 12% of the world’s population. LDC5 aims to achieve a road map to implement the Doha Programme of Action (DPoA) bringing the LDCs together with partners to agree commitments, maintain political momentum and ensure goals are met so that no one is left behind in this decade of action to deliver the SDGs.
The Doha Programme of Action calls for a commitment to “ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable, inclusive and quality primary and secondary education, leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes and inclusive, sustainable economic growth.”
