The Girls’ Education Program aims to improve the learning opportunities and outcomes for about 10,000 most marginalized girls in ‘Minjar Shenkora woreda’ (administrative area) in Ethiopia. Access to a good quality education will give these girls the chance of a better future for themselves, their families and their communities. 

The project employs an innovative approach to improve girls‘ academic performance, retention, and community awareness of the importance of girls' education by involving key stakeholders: school teachers, directors,  parents, community leaders, community based organizations, alumni and others through periodic community dialogues, trainings, mentorship and review meetings. A new ‘’mentorship service strategy is introduced for the primary school girls who have various education challenges and who are in need of close follow-up. In the first year approximately 300 girls will get mentorship service. Selection of needy girls will be made by the school teachers and directors in close cooperation with EDA and school management committees. The number of girls involved in the mentorship service will be increased to 500 in the second and third year. The volunteer mentors will support the girls through the telephone, and scheduled meetings with the girls, their parents, and their teachers. These interventions are expected to minimize girls’ absenteeism and dropout, improve girls’ completion rate, and enhance their education performance.    

The main project intervention areas:
•    Support 3000 girls from very poor families with 600 educational materials in 15 target schools.  
•    Conduct 16 life skill trainings for 500 girls in the target 15 schools. 
•    Support 124,000 sanitary materials for selected 500 target girls 
•    Renovate 30 latrines for school girls in 10 target primary schools
•    Conduct 112 awareness meetings for 500 boys on gender issue
•    Establish 25 child right clubs and train 60 leaders on child right issues. 
•    Organize 18 community dialogues on girls’ education in 15 schools
•    Organize 18 capacity building trainings for 150 school leaders on leadership and school governance. 
•    Support 500 parents/guardians/ with seed money and business skill training. 
•    Conduct mentorship training for 190 volunteer mentors.