Donors
to the Girls Advisory Committees project
Go to
"Project Proposal"
for a lengthier discussion of this project.
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About the RPCV Legacy Program
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RPCV Legacy Program projects:
Championed by Nancy Horn (Addis Ababa 66–68)
and C.J. Castagnaro (Harar, Debre Zeit 64–66, 67–69)
The goal to raise $6000 for the "Support Girls Advisory Committees" project championed by Nancy Horn (Addis Ababa 66–68) and C.J. Castagnaro (Harar, Debre Zeit 64–66, 67–69) has been reached and we are no longer requesting donations for the project. We hope you will support the other three fine RPCV Legacy Program projects.
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WILL YOU SUPPORT this project to increase girls’ enrollment in primary schools in Ethiopia and to help them stay in school until graduation?
A very inspiring part of a project funded by USAID to provide grants for capital improvements and the mobilization of community support for schools, is Girls’ Advisory Committees (GAC). GACs include teachers, parents, students, and community leaders who come together to determine key issues preventing girls from either attending or staying in school, and then work on removing these barriers.
In an evaluation Nancy conducted for USAID this past summer of 20 schools that have GACs, I found that girls’ enrollment has increased because: 1) early marriage contracts have been cancelled; 2) the incidence of Female Genital Cutting has decreased; 3) tutoring programs have been set up to help girls succeed; 4) income generating projects have been developed to support girls who are HIV/AIDS orphans; 5) more destitute girls have been awarded school supplies; etc. The GACs have done this without any financial support because the USAID funding generally goes toward capital improvements.
The goal
In this RPCV Legacy Program project, we hope to be able to support each of the GACs at approximately 120 schools with a grant of between $30 and $50. With this support, more girls will be able to attend school for longer periods. GACs might establish a small income-generating project to have an on-going funding source to purchase school supplies for girls, or to work with a lawyer to have a marriage contract broken, or to travel to different girls’ homes to convince parents that their daughters should stay in school.
Administration of the project
To help administer this project, the two organizations implementing the USAID project – World Learning and Save the Children US – will obtain a plan from each GAC as to how the funds will be utilized, establish a monitoring system, and then report to Ethiopia & Eritrea RPCVs on how the grant has improved education for girls.