ASED
Improving access to school in Senegal thanks to bicycles
Location
Thiès, Senegal
Context
According to UNICEF*, great improvements have been made in access to education in the country. Despite this progress, significant challenges remain, such as the large number of children and young people still excluded from the education system, especially in disadvantaged or rural areas. Several places do not yet have schools, especially beyond primary school, forcing many schoolchildren to walk miles every day to access education.
Distance and lack of adequate transport still remain a barrier for many children today, negatively affecting their performance and the continuation of their education.
*www.unicef.org/senegal/french/children_11344.html
Partnership
The Project Partner is the Kajoor Jankeen Federation, a local non-profit organization created in 2010 and based in Thies. The Federation brings together 12 grassroots community organizations in urban and rural areas in the regions of Thiès, Tivaouane and Mekhé. It specializes in the protection, monitoring and support of excluded and vulnerable children and currently monitors 7,500 children in precarious situations.
It has an agreement with the Senegalese State and works in collaboration with the National Service for the Protection of Children. It is supported by the International NGO Child Fund Senegal and by the Senegalese authorities as a Social Operator for Family Security in the Thiès region. It has strong local roots, thanks in particular to the 631 community relays with which it works.