UAE | General
Dubai Cares launches programs in Mali, Sierra Leone
Dubai Cares is implementing the programme along with its international NGO partners
- Staff Report
- Published: 00:00 July 14, 2010
Dubai: Dubai Cares, the UAE-based philanthropic institution, has launched the ‘WASH-in-Schools' programme in the West African countries of Mali and Sierra Leone with the objective of improving children's access to quality primary education.
Dubai Cares is implementing the programme along with its international NGO partners.
The water and sanitation facilities and hygiene education programmes will directly benefit over 1.7 million children in both countries. Access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities is an essential component to increasing school enrolment rates, decreasing pupil absenteeism, and promoting children's overall health while also encouraging girls' attendance.
Allocation
Tarek Al Gurg, CEO of Dubai Cares, said: "Following the success of the 2009 ‘Thirst for Education' campaign to promote ‘WASH-in-Schools' in developing countries, Dubai Cares has allocated more than Dh66 million, to better access and improve quality of education in Mali and Sierra Leone."
In Mali, 55 per cent of schools do not have a water point and 54 per cent do not have adequate sanitation facilities, according to national statistics.
Dubai Cares' intervention will include a multi-partner, four-year integrated ‘WASH-in-Schools" programme to be implemented by Unicef Save the Children, Care, Oxfam GB and WaterAid. This intervention will cover 726 schools in a number of regions across Mali.
At its core, the programme will provide basic low-cost water and sanitation infrastructure to ensure a healthy and adequate learning environment. It will also focus on hygiene promotion in both the school and the community to ensure behaviour change over the long term.
In Sierra Leone, only 39 per cent of the population has access to improved sanitation while only 57 per cent has access to an improved water source, according to Unicef.
Only 1 in 3 adults are able to read and write and 300,000 children are out of school. Poor sanitation facilities and shortage of clean water are one of the key factors affecting school attendance.
Dubai Cares will support Unicef and Plan International to implement the programme.
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