Enhancing Access of Children To Education And Fighting Child Labour

In an effort to combat child labour in Egypt, the European Union (EU) signed a partnership agreement with the World Food Programme (WFP) in July 2014 for a EUR 60 million project entitled “Enhancing Access of Children to Education and Fighting Child Labour”, with a special focus on girls.

The EU-funded project is targeting 100,000 children who were previously engaged in child labour, or those at risk of engaging in child labour. Through the provision of incentives (to both children and their families) to encourage enrolment and retention in schools, the project draws children away from the labour market.

In the 16 governorates supported by the EU-funded project, children attending community schools receive a daily in-school snack – in the form of a date bar fortified with vitamins and minerals to help them fight short term hunger. The in-school snack also provides children with 25 percent of their daily nutritional needs and helps elevate their level of concentration in the classroom.

In addition, to ensure that children regularly attend school, 400,000 family members of students with a minimum 80 percent attendance rate receive a monthly take-home ration in the form of 10 kg of rice and 1 litre of oil.

The EU-funded project will also rehabilitate 3,500 community schools, providing children with an adequate context for proper learning.

Enhancing Access of Children To Education And Fighting Child Labour - Project year 1

Enhancing Access of Children To Education And Fighting Child Labour - Project year 2