Context and need
In CAR, literacy among 15-24 year-olds stands at just 38.3%, and primary completion is 40% for girls against 57% for boys. Household poverty, insecurity, early marriage and pregnancy (61% of women married before 18), the taboo around menstrual health: mutually reinforcing barriers. The programme targets high-potential adolescent girls aged 9 to 18 from low-income households.
What we did
Five framework agreements signed with five public secondary schools in Bangui. Selection by a joint committee (Foundation, schools, ministries): 75 pre-selected girls, written test and oral interview at the Alliance Française, 15 selected. Rollout: families engaged (75 commitment agreements), 14 women mentors, three remedial sessions in French (the language of instruction), hygiene kits, a digital-literacy session, a stakeholder retreat.
Observed results
Of the 15 girls supported, all advanced to the next grade, and 3 received a national award for excellence (FECADD Prize). The path in French, reported without smoothing, was one of demanding learning: a solid start, a mid-year plateau, then recovery. Families report more diligent, more confident girls.
What we learned
The gap from 25 to 15 — of 75 girls pre-selected as the most promising, only 15 met the prerequisites — says nothing unfavourable about them, but reveals a system that, from primary school on, does not give girls the same foundations as boys. Lesson: the bottleneck precedes the programme. The pool must be worked upstream, without compromising on the standard owed to the girls.
Outlook
Consolidate the Bangui cohort, prepare a second cohort on a broadened pool, reactivate the deferred components (computing, English, arts, public speaking), and schedule an external evaluation at the end of the second year. Ultimately: national coverage.