Cross Border Pastoralist Education

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso share borders and also some of the worst education rates in sub-Saharan Africa. Only 20 per cent of the adult population in these three West African countries can read or write, and net primary school enrollment rates in 2005 were still below 40 per cent.

As in most other countries in the region, women and girls are the least likely to be educated, with literacy rates for women less than 50 per cent of those for men.

National governments are showing more commitment to education - the Malian Government for example launched a 10-year plan for education at the end of the 1990s.

However, these initiatives have had little impact on improving access to education for pastoralist communities who live in the Sahel region of West Africa. Pastoralists are amongst the poorest people in the Sahel, and are marginalised from the political mainstream, making it very difficult to persuade authorities to invest more in education for these communities.

Oxfam's work

Oxfam launched our cross border pastoralist education programme to increase equal access to good quality education for boys and girls in pastoralist communities in the Northern Gao region of Mali, Western Tillaberi region of Niger and in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso.

We work with local partners in all three countries to:

• improve school facilities,
• provide educational materials and equipment,
• raise awareness amongst communities of the importance of sending children (especially girls) to school,
• lobby national governments and international agencies to ensure that they live up to their pledges to the Millennium Development Goals for all children, girls and boys to have equal access to primary school education by 2015.

The Oxfam ‘Animatrice’

One of the most successful areas of Oxfam’s education programme in the Sahel is to work with ‘animatrices’ or female community mobilisors as a way of promoting girls’ education in both communities and schools that is sensitive to the lifestyle needs of nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoralists.

Each community has an animatrice, ideally a local woman, who encourages parents to send their daughters to school by discussing the importance and value of schooling for girls as well as boys.

They monitor girls’ attendance at school, work with teachers to ensure a safe and girl-friendly school environment and also follow up if girls drop out.

The presence in the community of such relatively well-educated women in paid employment also serves as a positive role model for girls and their mothers.

Most animatrices have previously been social workers or community mobilisers for health projects, cereal banks, micro-credit schemes or other projects.

Oxfam and our partners provide training in community mobilisation, gender awareness and most recently, HIV/AIDS awareness. With this limited training they have created strong links between school, parents and communities.

Our impact

From 2001–2005, Oxfam’s pastoralist education programme has had significant impact on the number of children in pastoralist areas attending school.

In Tillaberi for example, 1,823 children (49 per cent girls) were enrolled in the 30 schools built by Oxfam in this region. Many parents, who were once reluctant to send their children to school, are now supporting the demand for education in their communities and are playing a greater role in the management of education facilities.

Programme partners and communities have also been involved in the global campaign for education. In 2002, thousands of people participated in an Education Caravan calling for education for all across Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Ghana, driving the message home to national governments and international agencies.

The future

Over the next five years, Oxfam will continue to ensure that adequate resources are available for good school management and girl’s schooling.

We will also build on our experience working with local partners and pastoral communities to develop school curricula and environments that are adapted to the culture and lifestyle of pastoralists, and support civil society groups – local partners, school management committees, parent’s associations, etc – to develop their skills to be able to advocate government authorities and participate in national education planning and reform processes.

Back to Mali in depth overview

Last updated: March 06