By Wanda Bedard

Over the past 8 years, 60 million girlshas invested $1.9 million to support 17 projects in 13 countries, helping over 10,000 children, most of whom are girls. We are proud of these accomplishments, but our greatest achievement, I believe, is the knowledge we have gained during this period. What we have learned:

1. The vital importance of great partners. Through their many experiences in the field of girls’ education, our partners have been a tremendous source of information and expertise to us. It is through these strong, committed, open and transparent relationships that we have learned what works best, and when and how to proceed. Each partner is unique in approach and expertise and we have the advantage of seeing the issues from many varied perspectives. We are learning from the best practices of the top supporters of girls’ education in the world!
2. Networking. We are constantly talking, meeting and, most importantly, listening to a great variety of people from different areas of expertise in development. Whether it is the economics of poverty, issues and challenges in literacy and numeracy, governance concerns, accountability, health, empowerment – each area of study brings with it new perspectives on what makes an effective program.
3. Think outside the box. Why in the world are Maasai warriors carrying cell phones??? Mobile technology has transformed communication in developing countries in ways that were unimaginable, even 10 years ago. It is amazing that these countries were able to skip a whole generation of technology and jump past landlines directly to cell phones! Can we rethink education in rural areas in the same way? The world has changed. Does education still have to be traditional in approach? Can we do it better?
4. Networking.Did I mention this already? Since the work of the foundation is constantly on our mind, we end up discussing education issues with everyone we meet from IT specialists, neuroscientists, entrepreneurs, teachers, economists, artists, engineers and designers, who all bring a fresh perspective and a wealth of problem-solving skills.

Our accumulated knowledge and small flexible structure enable us to leverage what we do best into innovative approaches. If you were at our conference in October, you may remember that I spoke about some USB keys that were on their way to Sierra Leone that very night. They were part of Phase 1 of a low-cost pilot project we developed with our partner, CAUSE Canada, called “self-directed computer-based learning in a rural environment”. We were able to reach our very modest initial goals and implement the use of a math tutorial program called KA Lite for 60 high school girls in Kabala. We are now in the process of defining Phase 2, which will reach hundreds of students over several months, and measuring its impact on their National Exam results. This will give us more insight into delivery methods for self-directed learning. All absolutely exciting stuff to help support academic achievement with new low-cost, user-friendly technical solutions!

We are also continuing our past support of education in Afghanistan. The original project, that we supported in 2008, consisted of developing community-based schools and providing female teacher training just as children were flooding back into the school system after the fall of Taliban rule. Our new project, with CARE Canada, will focus on the construction a much-needed school building in Khost Province and a community commitment to work within the surrounding hub school system, as well as developing school improvement plans in this area. Girls in Afghanistan are still at the very bottom of most education indexes in the world. Despite the poor statistics, parents are clamouring for safe permanent spaces for their girls in order to send them to school. This project is an opportunity to support these very vulnerable girls and help them transform their lives.

By Lesley Stewart

McGill University’s Institute for the Study of International Development (ISID) will hold an international conference on March 13-14, 2014. Its purpose is to explore the factors that condition the success of truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs). TRCs have been established in many countries, including Canada, to acknowledge past historical human rights abuses with the specific goal of ensuring that these injustices will not be repeated. There are now almost 30 TRCs around the world. ISID’s conference will provide a forum in which they can be explored in a comparative manner. Among the many eminent speakers will be Bev Carrick, Executive Director of CAUSE Canada, our partner in Sierra Leone. She will offer her insights into how her organization has attempted to mitigate the effects of a 10-year civil war through socio-economic reintegration of war amputees and child soldiers and reconstruction projects, including rebuilding education infrastructure.

To celebrate International Women’s Week, our president, Wanda Bedard, will be the keynote speaker at McGill University’s Muriel V. Roscoe lecture, to be held on March 6th. She will follow this with a talk at John Abbott College on March 10th, as part of its Women and Gender Studies Program.

What does inequity in education look like? Gender, place of birth and socio-economic status will dictate a child ‘s educational success, both present and future. These infographics, taken from the latest UNESCO Education For All Global Monitoring Report, illustrate well these issues.