The World Bank has approved a new $700 million loan for Nigeria to expand the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) program. AGILE aims to improve secondary education opportunities for girls.
The additional funding will allow the program to be scaled up from its current seven states to 11 more states, increasing the number of beneficiaries to include out-of-school girls, married girls, and girls with disabilities.
Nigeria has over 12-15 million out of school children, many in Northern Nigeria. Around one million children were also affected by school closures due to insecurity in 2020-2021.
In the original seven states, girls enrolled in secondary schools increased from 900,000 to over 1.6 million. Over 5,000 classrooms have been built or repaired and more than 250,000 girls received scholarships. Infrastructure like WASH facilities, computers and solar panels have also benefited students.
The World Bank country director noted that investing in girls' education and skills is key to Nigeria's development. Parents of over 300,000 poor girls received cash incentives for school attendance in six states through AGILE.
The new funding will expand the program to 18 states to help Nigeria achieve better education and health outcomes for girls. This is the third loan approved under Nigeria's current administration to boost various sectors like power and women's empowerment.
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