Project profile — Breaking Barriers to Girls Education in Niger (BBGE)

• Niger (100.00%)

• Basic nutrition:
Basic nutrition (12240) (35.00%)
Health education (12261) (17.00%)
• Population Policies/Programmes And Reproductive Health: Population policy and administrative management (13010) (15.00%)
• Women's rights organisations and movements, and government institutions:
Women's rights organisations and movements, and government institutions (15170) (13.00%)
Ending violence against women and girls (15180) (20.00%)

• Youth Issues (principal objective)
• Children's issues (principal objective)
• Nutrition (significant objective)
• Gender equality (significant objective)

The project aims to reduce barriers to education and meet the needs of young girls and boys in terms of nutrition, overall health and sexual and reproductive health and rights in the Diffa, Tahoua, and Tillabéry regions of Niger. Project activities include: (1) Sensitizing girls, boys, and their communities on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including prevention of gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, and early marriage; (2) providing adequate sanitation, water, and hygiene services; (3) training adolescent girls on nutrition, health, and communication for social behavior change; and (4) sensitizing communities on the importance of education for all children, especially girls. The number of direct beneficiaries of the project is estimated at 80,810, including 54,790 girls in the Diffa, Tahoua and Tillabéry regions.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) enhanced protection of girls' right to education by the government and local communities in targeted areas; (2) Increased equitable use of nutrition and health services, micronutrients as well as sanitation and hygiene services by girls and boys in targeted areas; and (3) Increased empowerment of girls, adolescents and women to claim their sexual and reproductive health and rights in schools and at community level in targeted areas.

Results achieved as of May 2025 include: (1) distributed daily school meals to 96,353 primary school students, including 49,139 girls (51%), to meet their nutritional needs and support school attendance; (2) provided financial grants to 17,285 girls in primary school and in lower and upper secondary levels, totaling approximately 1.4 million dollars, to help them obtain necessary school supplies and remain enrolled in school; (3) trained 189 secondary school teachers and 458 mentors from safe spaces for adolescent girls to improve teaching on sexual and reproductive health issues; and (4) awareness-raising activities reached 180,000 people on girls’ education, the fight against child marriage, gender-based violence and the promotion of reproductive health services.

• Proactive disclosure