'We hope to make a tremendous difference'

Dubai: Dubai Cares' education programme in Niger will benefit more than 150,000 children and train 1,000 teachers, revealed campaign chairperson Minister of State Reem Ebrahim Al Hashemi on her return from the country.

"Niger has some of the lowest education rates in Africa. It is one of the poorest countries and disease is rampant.... We [hope] to make a tremendous amount of difference," she said.

Reem recently returned from a trip to Niger, where Dubai Cares launched its latest programme to provide primary education to children.

Nutritious food will also be provided to 100,000 children and 200 schools will be provided with classroom furniture. Basic school kits will also be supplied to children, which will help increase the number of enrolled pupils in 600 schools from 83,000 to 90,000.

In an interview with Gulf News, Reem stressed the significance of visiting the areas where Dubai Cares has launched programmes in order to understand the context in which it operates, adding that she plans to do so "every couple of months."

Perspective

"You can't tackle a problem until you understand the surroundings. We need to look at things holistically and be comprehensive and thorough. That experience helps give you perspective," she said.

The level of cooperation from the governments can often be the determining factor as to whether Dubai Cares should enter a country or not, said Reem. The campaign cannot afford to introduce programmes in countries whose governments do not show enthusiasm or are hostile to the foreign humanitarian organisations, she added.

The campaign's experience in Niger has been positive. While there, Reem met with the president of the country Mamadou Tandja as well as the minister of education "who were very receptive" and keen to promote education.

Dubai Cares' job however does not end after helping build schools and providing learning equipment. In agrarian societies where parents might find children more useful at work or at home than at school, there is a need to go one step further and provide incentives to send children to school. Reem said these incentives could be as minor as nutrition bars or vaccinations.

Dubai Cares' partners Oxfam and Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) have observed that clean water and nutrition bars are "huge incentives," said Reem.

While the literacy level in Niger stands at 62 per cent, says the minister, there is a general understanding among parents about the importance of not just food, but nutrition too, as well as the need for clean water and vaccinations.

Asked if Dubai Cares' programmes were too ambitious for its budget, Dh3.5 billion was raised last year, Reem said the campaign had already tripled its initially stated target of children to provide with a primary education, but added the plan was not to concentrate all the resources in one place, but to go into a number of countries and give primary education a kick-start there.

"The funds we have can't completely transform the countries we work in. Our objective is to give enough to have it move forward."

So far, Dubai Cares has committed to a two-year programme in Niger with partners Oxfam, Unicef and MSF at a cost of $3.2 million (Dh11.9 million). While Oxfam is going to be responsible for training teachers, Unicef will be building schools and MSF will be responsible for nutrition.

The campaign enters a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the countries it operates for five years, with money being disbursed bi-annually based on progress reports Dubai Cares receives twice a year from its partners in the field.

"We [expect to] make a tremendous difference in all the places we go," she said.

According to Unesco statistics, pupil/teacher ratio in primary education is: 43.7:1, percentage of trained teachers in primary education: 75.8, percentage of female teachers in primary education: 35.6. Primary gross enrolment rate: 44.7. per cent.

In Niger

Allocationof funds

- 150,000 pupils to benefit from the programme

- 100,000 children will benefit from ready-to-use-therapeutic-food

- 1,000 newly recruited teachers to receive basic education training and training in hygiene, nutrition and sanitation.

- 200 schools to receive classroom furniture.

- 50 emergency learning centres to be built.

- Dh11.9 million: cost of the Dubai Cares programme in Niger.

Dubai Cares

Dubai Cares was launched last Ramadan as a campaign to raise funds from UAE residents and businesses to provide a primary education to one million children in developing countries.

After the campaign ended, the amount raised was matched by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice- President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, doubling the fund to Dh3.5 billion.

Literacy rate low

Niger is a landlocked country in western Africa, named after the Niger River, of more than 13 million people. Its official language is French but Hausa and Djerma are also widely spoken.

Education in Niger is free, but enrolment is very low. The government of Niger is working to expand educational opportunities and aims to increase this enrolment ratio to 91% by 2013. In 2000 it stood at 34 per cent, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The shortage of schools and a lack of awareness among parents on the importance of education are among the factors contributing to the low school enrolment rate.

Niger has one of the lowest adult literacy rates in western Africa.