A three-year partnership between the Hodge Foundation and Plan International UK is reducing barriers to education for more than 2,500 girls across five schools and communities in Segou, Mali.
In a region of Mali where only 11% of children complete their education, a £300,000 donation from the Hodge Foundation is helping girls and boys to stay in school and access a safe education.
With the support from the Hodge Foundation, five schools in Mali will be more sensitive to girls’ needs. They are building latrines and changing rooms in the schools and teaching girls how to make their own sanitary pads, so they don’t have to miss school while on their periods. Plan International UK are providing girls and boys with essential school materials so that poverty doesn’t stop them from accessing the education they need.
Plan International UK are promoting the importance of girls’ education in communities through celebration days and murals to encourage parents to keep their girls in school. Girls who have dropped out of school are being supported to come back to education through extra lessons to help them catch up on what they have missed.
Girls in this area are also at risk of dropping out of school due to child marriage and early pregnancy, so they are working to protect these girls from harm and help them to complete their education.
Kate Lycett, Philanthropic Partnerships, said “Plan International UK and the communities in Segou are so grateful to the Hodge Foundation for helping to protect young girls and giving them the chance to learn and reach their potential”.
