More about our work
The United Nations ranked Niger as the least developed country in the world in 2019 for various reasons: food insecurity, lack of industries, strong population growth, a weak education sector and poor prospects for work outside subsistence farming and ranching. All these reasons, in factors to terrorism and violent extremism, increase the vulnerability of the population of women and children in particular.
Since our establishment in the country, we have helped the government of Niger integrate thousands of out-of-school children into the school system, which in turn reduces rural exodus and the number of early marriages, and ensures a better future for many of them.
A high rate of illiteracy, coupled with an unfavorable social status and certain specific cultural practices keep women in a state of submission and ignorance of their rights, especially in rural areas. Our programmes help these women to improve their living conditions and those of their families.
Today more than ever, Niger needs the support of all these partners because the security conditions have deteriorated in recent years, particularly in the border regions of Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Mali, where armed groups have established bases and carry out repeated attacks against security forces and civilians.
In Burkina Faso, we implement the following programmes:
Speed School – our main education programme. Designed in Mali in 2004, Speed Schools provide out-of-school children, at least half of them girls, aged 8 to 12 with a nine-month accelerated learning course that makes them eligible to enrol in 4th grade of formal primary school.
Our Speed School 2 for adolescents, vocational training, adult literacy and Saving for Change programmes provide out-of-school adolescents and illiterate women with new educational and economic opportunities.
Read more: http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/NER