GAPA project (Global Alliance for Poverty Alleviation) in Burkina Faso

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● The goal of this ongoing project is to create and strengthen the capacities for self-reliance of currently illiterate, extremely poor women living in rural areas. To reach this goal, EWB and its international partners such as UIL(UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning), ADEA(Assciation for the Development of Education in Africa) and APENF(Association for the Promotion of Non-Formal Education) have colloectively designed a holistically integrated approach for literacy development (REFLECT: Regenrated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techiques),income-generating skills training and micro-lending to alleviate the extreme poverty experienced in remote villages in Burkina Faso.

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● Reaching out to 5 villages, over 460 beneficiaries have now completed the 3 year course of the literacy program and about 1,200 women and men have been able to utilize the income-generating techniques and skills they have acquired, to run small-scale enterprises and ariculture businesses. About 550 locals(75% of whom are women) are now benefitting from the micro-lending program.Of particular pride to us is the fact that the repayment rate for the past 5 years in which this micro credit program has been in operation stands at a very  gratifying 95~98%.

● After three years of preparation in cooperation with APENF, Korean public and private partnerships started to finance this work from 2010: The Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Seoul National University, Darby Genetics,
the Ilga Foundation, Gwang-Myeong City and other organizations have all played an essential role.

●  Thanks to the notable results of having achieved several MDGs(the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th) at the micro-level, including international harmonization (the 8th), EWB, APENF and other Korean partners, were awarded the 2014 UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Award.

● To provide a sustainable educative environment for Life-Long Learning, EWB and GM City have built 5 literacy centers and equipped middle-level managers with the necessary tools and skills for ICT integrated management. From 2015, EWB and the Ilga Foundation shall build and successfully run a ToT(Training of Trainers) Center, coined as Ilga Canaan Center(ICC), for local educators and trainers who subsequently went on to teach at their village literacy centers a variety of appropriate technologies needed for successful agro-business in Burkina Faso and across borders.

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