World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

On 26 July, at a Government ceremony, WFP provided bicycles to nine girls who received the top marks on their primary leaving exams. Each had received WFP’s take-home rations –  ten kilograms of maize or sorghum, provided at the end of the month to girls in the last two years of primary school. The handover ceremony of gifts took place at the grounds of the former Government headquarters in the Sahel Region’s capital, Dori.

The bicycles, with school bags in the baskets, to be given to the girls before the hand over ceremony. The labels on the front state the girl's name, school and province.

The nine girls before  the award ceremony. These girls are part of the 11,000 girls that WFP provides with take-home rations and part of the 100,000 primary school students WFP provides with school meals each year.

Young school girls from surrounding schools attended the event, cheering on the girls and other award recipients. Completing primary school is a huge achievement in the Sahel Region, where only 48 percent of boys and 42 percent of girls finish primary school.

WFP Burkina Faso Country Director Angelline Rudakubana presents a bicycle to Edith Tougma, the girl with the highest marks in the Sahel Region.

The girls stand proudly next to their bicycles.

A class of Malian refugee students attended the ceremony. Malian refugee children in Burkina Faso who attend school also receive school meals from WFP. The teacher (seated on the right) won a prize in recognition of his efforts to continue teaching and achieving results, despite the difficult conditions.  

Abdoul Aziz Alhefegue, the Malian student with the best marks, receives his prize of a bicycle, a school bag, a dictionary and a bag of rice. He goes to school at the Mentao site, the largest in Burkina Faso, hosting some 17,000 refugees.

WFP Burkina Faso Country Director stands with one of the girls, Hadiatou Diallo, and the German Ambassador to Burkina Faso Christian Germann. Germany has been a generous donor to WFP’s school meals programme in Burkina Faso.

After the ceremony, the girls leave with their new bicycles. Next year, many of these girls will use their bicycles to attend secondary schools that are further from their homes.