U.S. GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE WILL HELP MORE TANZANIAN GIRLS ACHIEVE A QUALITY EDUCATION

At the Mtakuja Secondary School in Dar es Salaam, USAID supports education through the provision of textbooks. The Let Girls Learn initiative in Tanzania will build on the country's educational progress to date, particularly for adolescent girls. Credit: USAID.

Tanzania and Malawi will both receive funding as the first two priority countries under the Let Girls Learn initiative, launched in 2015 by U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. At a workshop held from May 10-12 at the White Sands Hotel in Dar es Salaam this week, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) convened local and international development experts, potential donors, and government leaders from Tanzania and Malawi to co-design a series of innovative solutions that will help adolescent girls in both countries attain a high-quality education.

“The Let Girls Learn initiative puts girls at the center of our efforts to improve educational and development outcomes around the world,” said Susan Markham, USAID Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. “By focusing on the unique needs of adolescent girls, we can more effectively address the many barriers they face to accessing the education they deserve.”

While primary school enrollment for males and females is almost equivalent in Tanzania, there is still a significant gap in secondary school completion rates. Among those aged 20-24, less than 20 percent of women have graduated from secondary school compared to over 32 percent of men. Tanzania’s Demographic Health Survey Data for 2010 indicated that 20 percent of women in that same age bracket had no education at all, compared to less than 10 percent of men.

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