USAID Announces Funding Increase for International Foundation for Education and Self-Help in Africa
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 23, 2007
Press Office: 202-712-4320
Public Information: 202-712-4810
www.usaid.gov
Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH) an additional $2.5 million under the African Education Initiative Support Program.
IFESH was initially awarded a contract of nearly $7.5 million by USAID during the 2002-2007 academic sessions. Based on good performance and requests by host countries, IFESH's efforts are being extended for another two years through 2009. The purpose of the modification is to continue and expand support for the program to recruit and assign volunteer Teachers for Africa (TFAs) to carry out training activities and provide other relevant support services in six priority countries where USAID currently has strategic objectives in education: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Senegal. Through this new partnership, IFESH plans to train an additional 12,000 teachers.
The Africa Education Initiative (AEI) was announced by President Bush in June 2002 to increase access to quality basic educational opportunities in Africa. In order to meet this challenge, USAID, through AEI, is developing, promoting, and expanding innovative methods for training more that 920,000 teachers and administrators to improve the quality of learning for millions of African children. AEI activities help improve primary education by providing teacher training, textbooks and other learning materials, support for community involvement, and scholarships.
IFESH based in Phoenix, Arizona is the first non-governmental organization to be awarded a cooperative agreement to implement an educational initiative under the AEI. IFESH focuses on teacher training to reduce hunger and poverty, empower the local community by raising the standard of literacy, and foster cultural, social, and economic relations between Americans and Africans. In addition the organization also focuses on empowering individuals of developing nations primarily in sub-Saharan Africa - through community-based programs in the areas of literacy, education, vocational training, agriculture, nutrition and health care.
For more information about USAID's involvement with AEI, visit www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/initiatives/aei.html and for more information on IFESH, visit www.ifesh.org.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
Back to Top ^
|
RSS Feed for Recent USAID Press Releases
