Aga Khan Foundation Canada

Published purpose

This project aims to improve the educational systems at the pre-primary and primary level and to strengthen women’s empowerment and gender equality in Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. The project is comprised of three components: foundations for learning; advancing gender equality through civil society; and advancing Canadian champions for development. Through these components, the project aims to enhance equitable development and empowerment for women, girls, adolescents, their families and communities in the target countries. Project activities include: (1) developing gender-responsive pedagogical approaches for teaching and school leadership; (2) training educators and education professionals; (3) collaborating with governments to equip education and early childhood development centres with appropriate curricula, protocols, resources and tools; (4) working with parents, communities and civil society organizations to respond to the challenges facing girls and women in education and civic spaces that often exclude them from participation and decision-making; and (5) engaging Canadians and deploying Canadian specialists to support human resource capacity building in key local partner organizations. The project aims to directly benefit 1.8 million people across the five countries of implementation, including 923,000 students and 930,000 teachers, school leaders, parents, government official and civil society organization members.