Ivory Coast
Timeframe: 2019-2024
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Partner: UNICEF
Since 2009, the MSC Group and UNICEF have partnered in life-changing programmes to fight malaria in Africa, provide an education for children living in the slums of Brazil and combat child malnutrition, saving 100,000 young lives. Our most recent programme together is From Plastic Bricks to Classrooms in Côte d’Ivoire.
From Plastic Bricks to Classrooms aims to address two major problems in Côte d'Ivoire: a lack of adequate school buildings, and environmental pollution caused by plastic waste due to low levels of recycling and reuse. The programme has three interconnected goals: to provide education for children who currently lack access due to the lack of classrooms, to reduce plastic waste, and to create additional income opportunities for local women working in the waste management sector.
The programme has been running since 2019 with the MSC Foundation’s support throughout, and sees UNICEF partnering with the Colombian enterprise Conceptos Plasticos to build classrooms for disadvantaged children in Côte d'Ivoire. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Education, UNICEF identified locations in Côte d'Ivoire with the greatest need for classrooms. The bricks used to build them are made from plastic waste collected by women in and around Abidjan. The programme is also improving the livelihoods of the women waste collectors by providing better working conditions and higher, more equitable incomes, while additionally supporting them to organise in an association.
The programme has introduced a circular economy model where plastic waste is recycled back into the system through a plastic waste value chain while simultaneously promoting sustainability and community empowerment through innovative waste management practices.
Results: 5,600 children now have access to a quality education. 616,000 kg of plastic waste recycled, 112 modern classrooms built, 112 women collectors organised in formal organisations and paid equally.
Challenges
2million
children are out of school
288tons
plastic produced every day in Abidjan
Only 5%
of plastic waste is recycled
46%
of households live in poverty
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