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Bénin Facts at a Glance

• Population: 8.8 million
  
• 45% of Beninese are less than 15 years old
• Boys primary education completion rate: 76%
• Girls primary education completion rate: 53%
• Percentage of National Budget spent on Education: 23%
• Six teacher training colleges re-opened after 17 years closure

Objective:

"To ensure that a quality basic education is more widely available on an equitable and sustainable basis"

• Improving the quality of primary education
• Improving girls' education,
• Increasing community participation in the management of the primary education system, and
• Increasing HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention in the education sector.

• The number of children attending school increased from 418,000 in 1990 to more than 1.3 million in 2005. For the same period,
• The number of girls enrolled in primary school increased from 141,000 to 560,000.
• Three teacher training colleges opened in 2006 after 17 years of closure, and now train 900 teachers annually;
• Support to 1,300 Parents' Associations and Mothers' Associations to help ensure that children attend school and deal with culturally sensitive issues such as child trafficking, forced marriage and HIV/AIDS.
• Benin's Ten-Year Education Sector Development Plan receives $76.1 million in Education For All (EFA) -Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Funds.

• The African Education Initiative (AEI), to promote girls primary school enrollment and completion, and improve management of the basic education system,
• The Women's Justice and Empowerment Initiative (WJEI) to combat gender-based violence and promote the rights of women

Main Partners:

USAID/Benin collaborates with Benin's Ministry of Preschool and Primary Education and several U.S. partners as well as an number of beninese organizations to improve the quality of basic education through teacher training, learning materials, and scholarships.

World Education Incorporated and its local partners, APEM (Association pour la Protection de l'Enfance Malheureuse) and GAJES (Groupe d'Action pour la Justice et l'Egalité Sociale) manage the Ambassador's Girls Scholarship Program, and the Girls Education and Community Participation Projects ( GECP) components of AEI.

UNICEF is a long standing partner of USAID, collaborating in the Combating Child Trafficking Project and the Community Teacher Professional Training Project.

CARE International began activities in November 2007 on the EMPOWER project, which is funded under the Women's Justice and Empowerment Initiative (WJEI). The EMPOWER project raises awareness about gender-based violence (GBV) and women's rights as well as providing services to victims of GBV. Also under WJEI the U.S. Department of Justice will work with courts, judges and lawyers, as well as police and gendarmes to raise awareness and provide training for investigating and prosecuting gender-based violence.

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