The Global Partnership for Education Approves a US$7.68 Million Grant to Strengthen Education in Somaliland

Hargeisa, June 27, 2018 – The Global Partnership for Education’s Board of Directors approved a grant of US$7.68 million to support Somaliland’s efforts to extend quality education to more of its children.

The three-year grant will support Somaliland’s Education Sector Strategic Plan 2018-2021 which aims to increase the enrollment of girls and boys from diverse and under-educated communities in primary and secondary schools, improve the quality of schooling through teacher skill training and better learning materials, and establish an effective system to gather and analyze education data to measure progress. The grant will also support the building and rehabilitating of learning spaces across the country to make them more conducive to learning, especially for girls and develop early childhood education initiatives that boost long-term learning performance.

"Somaliland’s future depends upon high-quality education for all our children,” said Yasin Haji Mohamoud Hir ( Faratoon), Somliland’s Minister of Education and Science. “GPE and Save the Children are enabling us to build a strong and sustainable education system that will prepare our citizens for lifetimes of productivity and prosperity. This is what we aspired to achieve through our Education Sector Strategic Plan."

Somaliland is affected by fragility, drought and economic crisis. Nearly half the population of Somaliland lives in poverty with many not being able to send their children to school. Between 2012 and 2015, Somaliland’s primary school enrolment rate has been low at around 34 percent, and primary school completion rates were also low. Secondary school enrollment has been even lower, though it more than doubled from nearly 11% in 2012 to 21% in 2015. Gender parity has improved with 83 girls for every 100 boys in primary school and 88 girls for every 100 boys in secondary school. Children from rural areas and internally displaced families are far less likely to be in school than their urban counterparts.

"Over the last several years, Somaliland has engaged in a rigorous process of creating a promising, long-term plan to build an education system that will be a foundation of its nation-building program,” said Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer, Global Partnership for Education. “GPE will now support the implementation of that plan to help Somaliland move along a path of greater prosperity and stability."

Save the Children has been the GPE grant agent in Somaliland since 2017 and will continue to serve in this role for the new grant as well. The new program is expected to begin in July 2018.

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