Appeal for “Girl Friendly Schools” in Togo

Plan Ireland's Programme Manager Damien Queally talks to girls in Pagala Lassa primary school in the Blitta Province of Togo which has benefitted from the Plan Girl Friendly Schools programme.

Plan Ireland needs your support to increase the number of girls receiving education in the West African country of Togo. We are building and upgrading schools to make them “girl friendly”.

Last year, with funding from Irish Aid, Plan Ireland carried out a pilot project in 10 communities in Togo and following on from its success, has decided to roll out the programme to as many communities in Togo as possible.

Why “Girl Friendly” Schools?

Girls often miss out on education either because they are kept home to look after younger siblings or they fear corporal punishment or lack of hygiene and sanitation facilities.

The Girl Friendly Schools Project is designed to make schools more attractive to girls by addressing these issues and by changing community attitudes to the value of educating girls. An integral part of this project is that it interacts with local communities to bring about these changes.

The project includes the provision of separate girls’ toilet and washing facilities and a community child-minding facility will also be provided to free up girls from child-minding duties.

How much does it cost to make a school “Girl Friendly”?

The cost of implementing these programmes varies depending on how much reconstruction work is needed but on average the cost is between €50k and €60k. This includes everything from construction/refurbishment work and sinking wells to community education programmes.

Progress so far

Thanks to pledges from both The International Bazaar and The Alphabet Ball committees, Plan Ireland is delighted that the first such project is now fully funded and work on the first school should start soon.

How you can help.

You can make a donation by sending a cheque made out to "Plan Ireland, Togo Appeal" to: Plan Ireland, 126 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2 or click here to make an on-line donation.

Corporate bodies can get involved by sponsoring part of or a whole school project – if your company or organisation is interested why not call Plan Ireland’s CEO, David Dalton, on 01 659 9601 to get the ball rolling?

Alternatively you can run a fundraising event such as a coffee morning or quiz night and remember, Plan Ireland is affiliated to mycharity.ie, the website which makes organising a fundraising event so much easier – just log on to http://www.mycharity.ie/charity/planireland for ideas and ways to maximise the amount raised from your event.

Why is girls’ education so important?

According to a recent report the economic cost of failing to educate girls in developing countries to the same standard as boys is a staggering US$92 billion a year –that’s only slightly less than the $103bn annual overseas development aid budget of the entire developed world – see http://www.plan.ie/action/campaigns/girlsed/

“There is no tool for development more effective than the education of girls” - former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.