VOA常速英语:Supporting Girls Education in Tanzania

The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, announced on October 12th a new program in Tanzania that will increase access to and quality of education for adolescent girls. Concurrently, the USAID Mission in Tanzania announced that it will sign a Memorandum of Cooperation on the Let Girls Learn initiative with Global Affairs Canada, or GAC.

This agreement builds on USAID and GAC's existing collaboration through the Education Development Partner Group, which coordinates with the Government of Tanzania's Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology to develop the Education Sector Development Plan and education policies.

aThe new agreement commits both donor agencies to work together to identify and outline potential areas for joint cooperation to advance access to quality education, foster an enabling environment for adolescent girls' education, and engage and equip girls to be agents of change.

Since the launch of the Let Girls Learn initiative, USAID has invested over $600 million on Let Girls Learn programs in 13 countries across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. In Tanzania and Malawi, the first two Let Girls Learn priority countries, the U.S. Government will invest up to $25 million through the Let Girls Learn Challenge Fund to work with an array of partners on innovative approaches to improving girls' education.

In Tanzania, World Education is the apparent awardee for the Waache Wasome, or “Let Them Learn” program, which will capitalize on long-standing USAID efforts to empower young women. In partnership with Restless Development, WGBH Educational Foundation, and Campaign for Female Education, (CAMFED) or Waache Wasome will increase enrollment and retention of adolescent girls aged 13-19 and improve community perceptions about the value of educating girls in select districts of Arusha and Mara regions.

This new activity grew out of a USAID workshop held in Dar es Salaam in May, where development experts, donors, and Tanzanian and Malawian government officials co-designed innovative solutions to help adolescent girls attain a high-quality education.

“USAID Tanzania is proud to be part of Let Girls Learn, which complements our strategy to advance Tanzania's socio-economic status in large part by empowering women and youth,” said USAID Mission Director Sharon Cromer.

“We are committed to improving the lifelong learning skills of Tanzanians, particularly among vulnerable groups like adolescent girls who face many barriers to education.”