“Before, girls did not go far in their studies. Today, girls have a chance and they are coming back”, says Céline Nambi, speaking on behalf of the mothers association of Tabota, a remote village in northern Benin . “At first, I was skeptical, but I witnessed mothers taking initiatives and convincing parents to send their daughters back to school.”

USAID partners with World Education on the Girls' Education and Community Participation Project (GECP). The project works to increase girls' enrollment and retention in primary school in nine northern districts of Benin where the gap between the number of girls and boys in school is most prominent, and the number of girls completing primary school is the lowest. GECP activities aim to improve the capacities of the primary school parents' committee, "Association de parents d’élèves (APE)" and mothers associations, "Association des mères d’élèves (AME)" to support girls' education, by raising awareness about the importance of girls' education, assist girls to enroll, and monitoring their attendance. GECP also works to increase community participation in the management and oversight of the primary schools.

“When the AME motivation caravan started”, says Aime N’Toua Kouambe, Tabota’s school teacher, “sixteen girls and one boy were away, many in Nigeria , as the result of child labor and arranged, or forced marriages. Their age: between 10 and 14 years old. AME mothers succeeded in bringing five girls and the boy back to school and are searching for the others. AME members are on the look-out for girls in danger of being trafficked or married by force.”

Successful AMEs and APEs show that organized parents can keep boys and girls in school. They also play an important role in improving schools and education at the local level. They convince families that education is important, rescue children, raise money to help poor children, and build thatched-roof classrooms. They also advocate the authorities to build permanent classrooms to support additional students and teachers.