AGIR Scholarship Program

Burkina Faso

The Burkina Faso scholarship program supported AGIR from 2009 to 2011 in order to provide educational support for deserving students in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is a land locked country in West Africa, faced with extreme poverty and 14 million inhabitants. In 2009 Burkina Faso ranked 177th out of 182 countries on the Human Development Index, making it one of the lowest countries ranked. The gross primary school enrollment in Burkina Faso has increased rapidly from 57% in 2005 to 72.5% in 2007, though the literacy rate remained low at 33%. The 33% literacy rate was linked to the lack of secondary schools and poor enrollment in secondary schools.

The Burkina Faso scholarship provided students with funding to receive their secondary school education. The students selected for the scholarships came from extreme poverty and difficult environments. Further, the selected students all demonstrated great academic success and a strong desire to excel in school in order to obtain their chosen profession. The program was started in conjunction with Action Governance Integration Reinforcement (AGIR), a local organization in Burkina Faso. For Granted worked closely with AGIR to design the program and AGIR served as our implementing partner helping to ensure community involvement, monitoring of the program, and accounting for program expenditures.