School Feeding:
A Lever with Multiple Benefits
A simple school meal can change much more than a child’s day. School feeding programs help children learn better, stay healthier, and attend school more regularly—while also supporting families and strengthening local communities. CLEF partners are now testing a new model designed to unlock the full potential of these multiple benefits. For many children, especially […]
School feeding: much more than a meal
School feeding is often seen as a nice-to-have. In reality, it is a strategic investment. In Côte d’Ivoire, expanding school meals could simultaneously improve education outcomes, nutrition, social protection, and rural livelihoods. Through the CLEF initiative—a partnership between the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, 16 cocoa and chocolate companies, and two philanthropic foundations—the Ministry of National Education […]
Building a Sustainable School Feeding Model in Côte d’Ivoire
A new school feeding model is being tested in Côte d’Ivoire—designed to be both affordable and sustainable. Supported by CLEF partners and implemented by the Ministry of National Education, Literacy and Technical Education, this pilot is already changing lives. Through the voices of those on the frontlines, we bring you the story of this ongoing […]
Investing in Learning: How Cocoa Companies Are Strengthening Child Labor Prevention Through CLEF
Investing in education is becoming one of the most powerful levers for cocoa and chocolate companies to mitigate child labor risks. In Côte d’Ivoire, 16 companies have partnered with the Government and two philanthropic foundations to expand access to quality education in cocoa-growing regions—an unprecedented collective effort. In this interview, Jean-Claude Tano, National Coordinator of […]
Bridging classes, a second chance for children to thrive through education
In this blog, we build on our first two reports about the Child Learning and Education Facility (CLEF) program’s “bridging classes. This third piece highlights community mobilization around bridging classes and shows promising perspectives for children who are benefiting from the program. In sub-Saharan Africa, one in five children works – 70% of them in […]
Bridging classes, a springboard to schooling: a day with Flore and her classmates
Following our interview with Annita Suzanne TRAORÉ, Director of Non-Formal Education at Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Education and Literacy – detailing the ins and outs of the “bridging classes” strategy – we now present a video recorded in cocoa-producing communities. It highlights the “human” side of this initiative. You’ll meet students and those involved in […]
Bridging classes: a springboard to schooling: Interview with the Director of Non-Formal Education at the Ministry of Education in Côte d’Ivoire
This interview with Annita Suzanne TRAORÉ, Director of Non-Formal Education at Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of National Education and Literacy, is the first of three reports dedicated to initiatives that help out-of-school children. These initiatives have been developed by the Child Learning and Education Facility (CLEF) program. CLEF is the first public-private partnership focused on scaling […]
Transforming Education in Côte d’Ivoire: Teachers Trained in Effective Pedagogical Practices
The scene is lively and vibrant—unusual for a Saturday morning—in the Madou Sahoua public elementary school in the town of Mayo, in the Nawa region of western Côte d’Ivoire. Voices and songs echo through the courtyard, where motorcycles are parked in large numbers. The classroom, which is full of grade 6 pupils during the week, […]
Leveraging cross-sector collaboration: The inspiring model of Côte d’Ivoire in Financing Education Reform
A case study by the World Bank Group, published in November 2023, has highlighted CLEF as an exceptional example of mobilizing private funding to support basic education as an essential means to fight against child labor and for the realization of every child’s full potential. The report acknowledges CLEF builds on the previous work by […]
Landmark Partnership to Transform Education and Tackle a Root Cause of Child Labor in Côte d’Ivoire.
The Government of Côte d’Ivoire, 16 leading cocoa and chocolate companies, and two foundations have come together to tackle a root cause of child labour through improving access to quality education. The partners have already committed CHF 69 million ($72 million) to scale evidence-based education programs, guided by a robust accountability framework and a comprehensive heatmap […]