PAAF — Girls’ Learning and Empowerment Project

PAAF project context

In the DRC, girls continue to face significant barriers to enrolling and remaining in secondary school, including sociocultural pressures, early marriage, economic constraints, gender-based violence, inadequate school infrastructure, and unsafe learning environments. The PAAF is aligned with the Sectoral Strategy for Education and Training (SSEF), which aims, among other things, to foster an education system that is more equitable, of higher quality, and better governed.

The development objective of the PAAF is to improve safe and equitable access to secondary schools—particularly for girls—and to strengthen the quality of teaching and learning in the targeted provinces. It also seeks to promote inclusive, safe, and violence-free schools, specifically by addressing sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment.

Mission

The objectives of the PAAF are to achieve sustainable improvements in access to, safety within, and the quality of secondary education in the DRC, with a particular focus on girls and the most disadvantaged areas.

Improve safe and equitable access to secondary education, especially for girls.

Create high-quality, safe, and inclusive school environments that are free from violence, including gender-based violence (GBV).

Increase the representation of women in the teaching profession, notably through the recruitment of qualified young female teachers aged 21 to 34.

Promote school governance, civic engagement, and efforts to combat practices that hinder access to education.