World Education, Inc.

Brighter Futures Program
In Nepal, one of every three children is a child laborer, with an estimated 2.6 million children between the ages of five and fourteen working on farms, in factories, in businesses, or in other people's homes. World Education is implementing a four-year project to combat child labor through education. World Education's Brighter Futures Program works closely with the International Labor Organization's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor in Nepal. Brighter Futures activities are carried out at two levels: in communities where children come from or where they currently live and work; and at the policy level with government and international agencies.

World Education and its government and nongovernmental organization (NGO) partners use what they learn from project implementation at the community level to help inform existing and new government policies related to child labor. World Education and its partners work to increase children's access to education, and to improve the relevance and quality of education and training for children rescued from abusive forms of child labor. This includes provision of nonformal and vocational education opportunities, the strengthening of community based education, and the strengthening of monitoring and supervision systems used in primary education and nonformal education programs. Brighter Futures engages policymakers in the continuous review of lessons learned from program implementation and the study of specific barriers to children's participation in order to formulate and improve educational policy on child labor.
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Capacity Building Services to Local and International NGOs in Cambodia
Cambodia's human resources were decimated during the brutal reign of the Khmer Rouge in the late 70s, and in the following decade of civil unrest and war. Local civil society institutions did not begin to emerge until the early 1990s, after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. Given this recent history, a great need exists for programs in human resource development and skills training for staff of local civil society organizations. World Education responds to this need by providing participatory training of trainers programs in a variety of technical sectors, applying the latest in adult education teaching methods and practices to programmatic and organizational challenges in health education, sustainable agriculture, human rights work, community development, and project and organizational management. Over the last five years we have worked with staff of a wide range of Cambodian government agencies, Cambodian and international NGOs (AICF/USA, Khemera, Church World Service, Cambodian Red Cross, Caritas, CHED, CEMP, ADRA, Enfants du Cambodge, etc.) and international organizations such as UNICEF, UNDP, WHO, ILO, FAO, and UNFPA.
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Civic Action in the School Environment (CASE) in Benin (2003 - 2006)
Despite the success of World Education's work in Benin, in particular the PENGOP project, federations of parent associations were still too weak to independently fulfill their purpose. Furthermore Beninese women were not sufficiently participating in parent associations addressing school management issues. The CASE project strengthened the legal environment for civic participation in education and improving gender equity in education. By building the institutional capacity of Parent Association Federations, World Education improved the ability of federations to lobby the government on parents' behalf and to better serve parents and school communities. Through CASE, funded by USAID, World Education also established and built the capacity of mothers' associations to encourage a special focus on girls education and equity.
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Community Action for Education and Literacy Project (ACEB)
The forest region in Eastern Guinea is historically one of the least developed in the country. In spite of the rich natural resources and growing economy, access to education and other necessities are limited.

The Community Involvement in Education and Literacy Project (ACEB) aims to improve the quality of life and opportunities for sustainable development in this region. Implemented in close collaboration with local NGO partners, ACEB extends pilot phase literacy activities to more of the Beyla, N'Zérékoré communities and incorporates post-literacy and initial French literacy programs.

The project reinforces the capacity of a host of local civil society associations to contribute to a culture of literacy, enhance economic opportunities, and to improve retention and pass rates at the secondary school level.

One aspect of ACEB is the implementation of a sustainable savings and revolving micro-credit fund, which is managed by trained Mothers' Associations. An innovation to the second phase of ACEB includes a change in the scholarship component to target secondary school students in Beyla. Finally, at the request of the funder, the Rio Tinto Group, the second phase will be expanded to include the three new communities of Nionsomoridou, Watefredou and Traorella.

The main goal of ACEB is that community-based organizations are able to identify and implement durable solutions to the development challenges they face in their everyday lives.
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Community Involvement in Primary Education (CIPE) (2001 - 2005)
In southern Africa, where national governments have successfully expanded primary school enrollment, the education sector faces the challenge of providing quality education to a vast population of new students. World Education's Civic Involvement in Primary Education (CIPE) project addressed this critical issue by mobilizing communities in Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, and Zambia to become actively involved in the education of their children. Working with a key local NGO partner in each country, CIPE provided training and small grant assistance to parent associations (e.g., PTAs and school committees) at the community level, thus building their capacity to improve the quality of education in their schools.
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Community Participation in Education for Equity and Quality (PACEEQ)
There is a large disparity in Guinea between urban and rural area school enrollment and quality of education due to complex historical and socio-economic factors. Retention rates for girls and rural children are low throughout the country, but increased parental involvement in education has offered opportunities for improvement. Decentralization has also played a pivotal role with regard to basic education policy and parents have become the primary advocates for educational resources for their children.

In collaboration with Save the Children, Educational Development Center (EDC), Research Triangle Institute (RTI), and Academy for Educational Development (AED), World Education has increased community participation in basic education in order to improve quality and gender equity. PACEEQ developed the skills and institutional capacity of Guinean nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to implement effective community development activities through training and support services. In addition, the program worked closely with NGOs to strengthen parents' associations to enhance their role in improving quality of and access to education for their children. Also integrated into PACEEQ were rural radio activities, adult literacy training, and strategies to prevent and mitigate the spread of HIV/AIDS.

In August of 2005, PACEEQ was extended for a supplemental year to ensure that parents associations and local government institutions sustain project activities for years to come. The focus for the 2005-2006 year also included substantial training and capacity building support to national level institutions.
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Community Radio Network
Following on the creation of six community radios in the Casamance built and managed by World Education and financed by individual donors, the Community Radio Network aims to both increase the number of radio stations in the network to ten and to support the network to become a central vehicle for coordinated operations, social and economic development and the promotion of peace in the Casamance.

Through this project, World Education is providing development support for the nascent Radio Network, support and technical assistance to each of the radios, helping to maintain and strengthen the current radio content focus on women and women's rights, and helping with the sustainability of the radios within the network.
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Decentralization of Basic Education Management and Governance
Following decades of highly-centralized governance and administration, Indonesia is in the midst of implementing an extensive program of decentralization of its education sector, aimed at transferring control, ownership, financial and management responsibilities from the national government to province, district, and community-level institutions and school. As shown in other countries, increased community participation in education leads to more community ownership, voice and involvement, enhanced accountability of service providers, increased relevance of education, and ultimately -- improved quality of education.

The Decentralized Basic Education: Management and Governance Project (DBE1) USAID-funded project was launched in 2005 to assist provincial, district and local school governance institutions to develop a more effective decentralized education management and governance systems for primary schools in six provinces of Indonesia.

World Education, which is a partner to RTI and local NGOs on this project, is working to enhance the capacity of local school committees, district-level institutions, and civil society organizations to effectively engage in local school governance and management activities. The World Education team is developing resource materials and training programs for school committees and other local organizations and also works with project staff on enhancing the use of participatory methods in various project activities.
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Education First: Combating Child Trafficking Through Education (2003 - 2007)
Benin received significant international press in late 2003 due to the high incidence of Beninese children trafficked to Nigeria to work in mines. World Education and Terre des Hommes, partners in a consortium led by Catholic Relief Services, worked with local organizations in Benin to prevent child trafficking as well as to reintegrate victims of child trafficking in the Education First: Combating Child Trafficking Through Education Project. World Education's role was to build the capacity of local stakeholders, especially parents associations, to develop awareness campaigns and initiatives to reduce child trafficking. Community plans were also developed to guide the successful reintegration of victims into their communities of origin and ensure access for these children and other at-risk youth to formal and non-formal education. Other stakeholders, such as national institutions and government agencies, were involved to promote proactive policies supporting past victims of trafficking and the prevention of future trafficking. This four-year project was funded by the United States Department of Labor.
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Egypt Education Reform Program (ERP) (2004 - 2010)
Egypt's education system is highly centralized and gives authority to the Ministries of Local Administration and Finance to make the majority of decisions facing schools in Egypt. As a result, community participation in education is scarce and parents are often reluctant to become more involved in their children's education. Moreover, schools are often faced with overcrowded classrooms, under-qualified teachers and inadequate resources.

The Egypt Education Reform Project, a five-year program funded by USAID, addresses these issues through an integrated approach that combines community mobilization, nonformal education such as life skills and literacy training, school construction, teacher training, and girls' scholarships while ensuring effective leadership and participation on the part of the Egyptian government. In partnership with American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Educational Development Center (EDC), WEI works through an integrated approach to strengthen community participation, professional development, decentralization, standards, and monitoring and evaluation within the education system. To this end, WEI's interventions through ERP prioritize community mobilization, non-formal education such as life skills and literacy training, and effective, decentralized leadership and participation on the part of the Government of Egypt. Nonformal education interventions include efforts to review progress in the development of decentralized plans for adult literacy in close collaboration with the Adult Education Authority at the national level.

WEI technical support in the area of community participation is tailored specifically to the School-Based Reform (SBR) approach; a process rooted in recognizing the school as the locus of change through which quality education is achieved. WEI has been instrumental in reviving and establishing Boards of Trustees (BOTs) throughout participating schools, which serve to hold schools accountable for the development and management of their school improvement plans. By the fall of 2009, a total of 268 new BOTs had been established and training provided to school-based social workers to activate and mobilize BOTs to practice good governance for educational improvements and refrom. Watch a video of how the project is working with Boards of trustees to improve education.

Additionallly, to strengthen management and governance of schools at the national level, WEI trained 1,465 Ministry of Education staff and data collectors to support and carry out data collection, exceeding project targets by over 400 trainees. Complementing these efforts, 433 personnel from the MOE Policy and Strategic Planning Unit and the General Department of Information Statistics and Computing were trained in the Education Management Information System (EMIS) in this WEI-initiated effort.
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Faisons Ensemble
Faisons Ensemble, a 31-month project funded by USAID/Guinea, focuses on improving basic services in health, education, agriculture, and natural resource management through better governance practices. The project targets communities in Upper Guinea, Forest Guinea, and the five communes of Conakry.

The goal of Faisons Ensemble is to increase citizen access to better services in the health, education, agriculture, and natural resources sectors, with the aim of improving living conditions for Guineans. Faisons Ensemble will recruit and work with "champions" within local government, civil society, and the media, to provide capacity building, technical, and financial support for groups that promote good governance practices.

The project has four main objectives:
1. Improved effectiveness of government institutions and decentralization and local service delivery
2. Greater visibility and effectiveness of anti-corruption efforts
3. Increased capacity and effectiveness of civil society, working through strong CSOs and CBOs that are well managed and participate, demand accountability and transparency in service delivery, and advocate for good governance.
4. Increased citizen access to more diverse sources and types of information.

World Education is responsible for managing the third and fourth components of Faisons Ensemble, which focus on the capacity and effectiveness of civil society for improved civic participation and advocacy, and citizen access to information - as well as cross-cutting adult literacy, youth engagement, and gender. World Education also oversees overall grants management of the project, ensuring that targeted champions at community, regional, and national level receive the full financial support required to advance innovations in good governance.

World Education collaborates with five other U.S. non-governmental organizations (NGO) and two Guinean NGOs in the Faisons Ensemble consortium led by the Research Triangle Institute.
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Farmer Managed Groundwater Systems Project in Andhra Pradesh (2004 - 2009)
Sustainable management of water resources is an issue of increasing importance, especially in drought-prone areas of India, such as Andhra Pradesh (AP). There an increase in land under irrigation and a shift to water-thirsty crops has created growing pressures on existing water resources. The Andhra Pradesh Farmer Managed Groundwater Systems Project, funded by the Royal Dutch Embassy, New Delhi, is a continuation of a 15-year Dutch Government involvement in the provision of borewells and technical training to small and marginal farmers in seven districts of AP. The main objective of the APFAMGS Project is to enhance the ability of farmers and water user groups to manage their groundwater systems efficiently.

World Education works with Project staff to:

• Develop a successful technician-farmer knowledge transfer 'interface' by using nonformal education techniques;
  
• Plan and implement community outreach programs and social mobilization campaigns aimed at engaging all water users, in particular women and small farmers, in joint management of their water resources; and,
  
• Monitor project activities on an ongoing basis by documenting farmers' adoption and ownership of project technical and organizational inputs.

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Girls' Improved Learning Outcomes (GILO)
Girls' Improved Learning Outcomes (GILO) is a three-year project which aims to increase the educational enrollment and achievement of girls in basic, primary and preparatory schools in Egypt. World Education, Inc. (WEI) plays a lead technical role in the GILO consortium led by RTI that works with multiple stakeholders to support the implementation of Egypt's strategy of School Based Reform (SBR) in local communities and idarras, chiefly in Upper Egypt. The key stakeholders of GILO include: teachers, board of trustees, school administrators and supervisors, students, parents, community representatives, and the staff of concerned government agencies at district, governorate and national levels.

WEI's role through GILO is to expand equitable access to and coverage of K-9 education for children, especially girls, and to improve school management and administration and broaden community participation in education to ensure accountability for quality improvements at the school level. More specifically, WEI provides communities with the wherewithal to expand girls' access; raise instructional quality; improve school management, leadership and administration; and sustain quality improvements at the school level through innovative school expansion programs that introduce alternative construction, maintenance, and expansion solutions such as add-on classrooms, community/school-based maintenance programs through School Self Assessment (SSA) and School Improvement Plans (SIPs), and multi-grade classrooms. (For more information on our SSA/SIP approach, check out our WEI-produced short docu-film on School Improvement Planning).

A key strategy of WEI is to build capacity of school Board of Trustees (BOTs) and social work supervisors to provide good governance and accountability to schools for self-improvement and education reform, especially in the area of expansion of girls' access and participation. Through GILO, WEI has worked with communities where BOTs are weak to establish Community Education Teams (CETs) as a sub-committee of the Board of Trustees (BOT) to collect school and community data and conduct Participatory Situational Analyses (PSAs) to determine community and school conditions, public concerns about education, and challenges and priorities in regards to girls' enrollment and achievement in schools. To date GILO has trained approximately 100 CETs, over half of project target numbers. In addition, GILO has worked with GILO target communities and schools to establish and mobilize each school's BOT through democratic elections and increased women's participation and leadership. By fall 2009, fully 27% of all newly elected members are now women.

Strengthening local capacity and fostering self-reliance through a trainer of trainers (TOT) approach is central to WEI programs worldwide. WEI has employed this approach in GILO by building capacity of district and school social workers through TOTs to train BOT members from on roles and responsibilities and capacity building for good governance in schools. In addition, WEI has trained selected administrators, Ministry of Education (MOE) advisors, and senior teachers through TOTs in effective school leadership and management for school administrators from GILO-supported schools. WEI supports and builds sustainability for school governance and leadership trainings by working with schools to provide technical support in the use of data for decision making, including planning for the establishment of school management information systems for over all project-supported schools.
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Guinea Brighter Futures
Brighter Futures supports conflict mitigation and reconciliation objectives in communities in the turbulent and under supported Forest Region of N'Zérékoré in the Republic of Guinea.

Based on extensive and detailed analysis of conflict in the area, and relying on a range of best practices and lessons learned, the proposed program aims to achieve its twin goals of reducing the threat or impact of violent conflict and promoting peaceful resolution of differences in Macenta and N'Zérékoré.

By targeting trainings in community development, civic education, conflict resolution and mitigation and using broad sensitization campaigns, including the use of radio, the program strives to achieve four objectives: 1) strengthen traditional and community-level conflict mitigation and resolution structures, including CBO and government partnerships; 2) reinforce the capacity of youth associations and young people to promote a culture of non-violence, cooperation and transparency; 3) promote inter-group dialogue and reconciliation at the community level and; 4) document and disseminate lessons learned and best practices for sustainability.
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Laos Economic Acceleration Program for the Silk Sector (LEAPSS) (1999 - 2006)
For centuries the Lao silk textiles have been admired for their beauty, quality, and unique designs. The domestic and international demand for textiles has been high. Over the past 25 years, however, the silk industry in Laos has suffered a decline, and the demand has exceeded the supply. The limited supply of domestic raw silk creates a demand for imports from surrounding countries, resulting in higher costs and lower profits for silk weavers. From 1999 to 2006, the Laos Economic Acceleration Program for the Silk Sector (LEAPSS), was funded by USAID and implemented by the Consortium of World Education and World Learning. The project provided training assistance and technical support to silk growers in the remote provinces of Xieng Khoung and Houphan. In addition, the program offered training and networking support to agricultural extension workers, weavers, small business owners, and traders, with a particular focus on women micro-entrepreneurs. The Consortium and its government partner planned for this program to serve as a policy model for future private enterprise development in Laos. The project was active through 2006 and is no longer being implemented.
Read the following success story about the program: Expanding Agricultural Options in Laos
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Primary School Maintenance and Management in Benin
Sekkei Keikaku, a Japanese development organization, built dozens of new schools in Benin. World Education collaborated with Sekkei Keikaku and local committees to develop strategies to maintain primary schools in Benin. World Education worked with parent associations to ensure maintenance of the new schools. During the life of the project, parents acquired the necessary skills to protect the sustainability of their children's schools. Approximately 35 parent associations throughout Benin were trained.
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Promoting Peace Education in the Casamance
After 10 years of civil conflict in the southern Casamance region of Senegal, a fragile stability has developed in a community that is ready to embrace peace. Communities that were once separated from each other and tied up in a violent conflict are again coming together to rebuild their villages, region and society. An important step in the rebuilding process occurs in schools where students in the Casamance have a need to better understand how to resolve conflicts and get along with one another in an atmosphere of openness and nonviolence.

The Peace Education program aims to teach peaceful means of cooperation, conflict resolution, and reconciliation to local primary school students and teachers while peace activities are organized within the larger community. Over a year and a half, World Education, funded by USAID, is creating a Peace Education course to be taught to students and faculty in 40 schools throughout the Casamance. In addition to the course, members of the local community will join with participating students and teachers in forming community-based peace committees that will plan and oversee various peace-related activities. The goal of this project is to introduce peaceful means of communication to members of the Casamance community, with an important focus on youth, as the area moves out of conflict and begins rebuilding.

Learn about World Education's previous peace education work in the report: Building Peace and Prosperity in the Casamance
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Reaching and Educating At-Risk Children (REACH) - India
Child vulnerability in India stems from a variety of causes, including low family income, social marginalization, and limited access to health care. Often, vulnerable children do not have the opportunity to gain a basic education. From 2003 through 2008, World Education worked with American Institutes of Research (AIR), Juarez and Associates, and the University of Michigan in India on REACH-India, a five-year initiative funded by USAID. World Education was a part of a team that provided technical assistance to improve current alternative education programs for at-risk children in rural and urban areas of India. The program strengthened the service delivery capacity of Indian NGOs. REACH was implemented in six areas: three megacities - Kolkata, Dehli, and Mumbai - and three rural areas - Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, and the northern part of Karnataka.
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SELECT Stop Exploitive Labor and Education Children for Tomorrow
Child trafficking and child labor are prevalent practices in some parts of Guinea. This is due to a range of factors including Guinea's geographic location and the large demand for improved education services. Until the government of Guinea can provide quality education to children, working for wages will be a viable option for many families.

Funded by the US Department of Labor, the SELECT Project will address the issues of child labor from the prevention and mitigation perspectives in the regions of Faranah, Kindia and N'Zerekore. Program objectives include:

• Withdrawing children and preventing children from participating in exploitive child labor.
  
• Strengthening Guinea's capacity to combat child trafficking and exploitive child labor.
  
• Promoting the long-term practical value of education.
  
• Raising awareness of child trafficking and exploitive child labor.
  
• Increasing national capacity to address the issues of child labor and trafficking in Guinea.

Working with local partners, as well as international NGOs such as ChildFund International, Plan International and SageFox, World Education will use a community-driven approach to promote action and change from within and create sustainable environments that keep children in school.
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Support to Health, Institution Building, Education and Leadership in Policy Dialogue (SHIELD)
Approximately 130,000 refugees from Burma live in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, and well over 400,000 live unofficially in Thai communities along the border. Some of the refugees have lived along the border for a decade or more, and have seen whole generations of children grow in the camp environment. The refugees wish to educate their children in the camp setting, so that some day they may return to Burma and actively partake in its transformation. Unfortunately, their resources for education activities are extremely limited.

World Education, working with the International Rescue Committee and funded by a grant from USAID, initiates projects to increase access to and quality of education for Burmese refugees and migrants in Thailand. World Education trains refugee teachers and school administrators, and works on curriculum development, special education, adult literacy, and materials development and production. To assist refugees and displaced people living outside of the refugee camps in Thai villages, and to the Thai villagers who host them, World Education also provides targeted education support to several Thai communities along the Thai-Burma border. All work is carried out in cooperation with other NGOs working along the border to ensure sustainability and effectiveness of the training efforts, and to create a sustainable education system that can be quickly adapted when the refugees return to Burma.

Read more in the World Ed Feature Stories: Training Refugee Teachers on the Thai-Burma Border.
and
Providing Special Education to Burmese Refugees
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Supporting War Victims and People with Disabilities in Laos
From 1964 to 1973 Laos suffered from some of the heaviest aerial bombing in world history, the equivalent of one planeload of bombs dropped every eight minutes around the clock for nine years. Many of the bombs did not explode on contact, and have been buried over time by soil and debris. This unexploded ordnance (UXO) has caused thousands of deaths and injuries, and continues to pose major threats to farmers and children living in the affected areas. Since 1995 the Consortium (World Education) has been assisting UXO-affected communities through the War Victims Assistance Project. Funded by USAID, the project works on upgrading the medical, surgical, and emergency services of district and provincial health facilities so that injured individuals have a greater chance of survival and full rehabilitation. UXO victims receive small cash assistance to help them restart livelihood activities after their rehabilitation. Funding for the victims assistance component has come from USAID, private donors, and from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency.
Read the following success stories about the program: Improving Services that Help Those Affected by UXO in Laos, Improving Health Care Management in Laos, and Reaching UXO Survivors in their Communities in Laos
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UXO Education and Awareness Project (2009 - 2010)
Unexploded ordnance (UXO) - bombs and ammunition that has not exploded - has caused thousands of deaths and injuries, and continues to pose major threats to farmers and children living in the affected areas. With support from the US Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, World Education has developed a UXO awareness curriculum for primary schools. World Ed has also trained teachers through the national teacher-training program to use effective, child-centered teaching methods to help children learn important lessons about UXO injury prevention.

The curriculum is taught in the most contaminated districts in the country. Each year, the project expands to more schools. This expansion is facilitated by training staff of the provincial and district Departments of Education, who in turn become trainers for new teachers entering the program. During the 2007 - 2008 school year, 1,500 schools in 37 districts are participating in the program, with some 4,500 teachers helping 165,000 students learn about the dangers of UXO.

Read the following success story about the program: Learning to Avoid Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) in Laos
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Women's Empowerment through Literacy and Livelihood Development (WELLD) (2003 - 2007)
Over the last several years in India, the popularity of women's savings and credit groups (commonly referred to as self-help groups) has been on the rise. However, the ability of members to achieve their full potential in the areas of livelihoods and assets enhancement, and in overall social development and political participation, is limited by their lack of literacy skills.

From 1999 - 2002, World Education worked on a pilot project in collaboration with the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) funded by the Ford Foundation and implemented in two Indian states, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. This project, known as the Women's Empowerment through Literacy and Livelihood Development (WELLD) Project, led to the development of a literacy curriculum that integrates literacy with concepts of savings and credit group formation and management, and livelihood improvement. World Education provided technical assistance to organizations in India that wanted to use or adapt the WELLD package to meet the needs of the women who participated in their microfinance programs. Through the use of these materials, women became active members of independent, self-sustainable savings and credit groups, and moved towards making more informed choices about their livelihood activities.
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Women's Literacy and Livelihoods Pilot
It is estimated that 81% of women in Guinea are illiterate, with the highest concentration of illiteracy in rural areas. The impact of these high illiteracy rates, particularly in Guinea's rural areas, is felt in numerous sectors including education, health, natural resource management and throughout the local economy. Rural women are particularly affected by illiteracy, which, combined with the lack of access to microcredit serves to deepen their vulnerability and marginalization. Approximately 70 to 80% of rural women in Guinea suffer serious financial difficulties and have no access to credit.

World Education's Women's Literacy and Livelihoods Project is a 14-month pilot designed to improve the well-being of rural Guinean women and their families through increased access to basic literacy and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods. The pilot integrates lessons learned from years of experience in Africa and Asia working with community-based organizations to create innovative tools and strategies that address critical needs for functional literacy and microenterprise.

Working with 10 women's groups in the Mamou region, the project aims to develop women's basic skills in literacy and livelihoods. Functional literacy training is held local-languages and integrates sustainable livelihoods and includes practical exercises, allowing participants to immediately use mathematics and microfinance skills learned in literacy sessions. To complement literacy training, women receive additional skill-training in locally relevant income generating activities and gain access to microcredit funds.

The pilot encourages sustainability by strengthening women's groups to manage literacy activities, sustain small savings programs and provide ongoing assistance to their members. As with many of World Education's programs, women receive cross-cutting training on HIV and AIDS and its impact on livelihoods and development.
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