TRECC Program - Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities - began in 2015 when the Board of Directors of the Jacobs Foundation decided to invest 50 million Swiss francs in this innovative initiative, which seeks to improve the living conditions of children and young people in Côte d'Ivoire by promoting quality education and leveraging the contribution of the private sector.
As the world's largest cocoa producer and one of the main economic drivers in West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire offered the most promising conditions for the Jacobs Foundation to make a lasting social impact by strategically aligning itself with the agendas of the government and of the cocoa and chocolate industry.
Since the official launch of TRECC, the Ivorian government, 12 cocoa and chocolate companies, 12 social enterprises, 20 national and international civil society organizations and several partners from the academic and research world have joined the initiative.
To date, TRECC’s partners and co-investors have committed a total of US$ 85 million. These funds are being used to pilot and scale up evidence-based programs to promote early childhood development, primary education and learning opportunities for youth, with a particular focus on rural areas.
The industry recognized that child labour and low productivity are a serious threat to the sustainable growth of the sector. In this context, improving access to education by constructing new infrastructure was seen as a way of addressing the problem of child labor. However, TRECC has demonstrated that access to education alone cannot eradicate child labor and generate economic growth. To accomplish those goals, education must be of high quality to ensure that children acquire the expected skills and do not drop out of school because of repeated academic failure.
Our goal is to use this substantial investment to create an ecosystem of change, seeking to achieve major systemic transformations in national education and nutrition policies as well as in the sustainability strategies of the cocoa and chocolate industry.
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Authorization for TRECC funding
The Board of Directors of the Jacobs Foundation decides to invest 50 million Swiss francs in an innovative initiative called TRECC - Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities - aimed at improving the living conditions of children and young people in Côte d'Ivoire by promoting quality education and leveraging private sector contributions.
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Official launch of TRECC in Côte d'Ivoire
TRECC is officially launched in Côte d'Ivoire on 17 February 2016, at an event organized by the Swiss Embassy in the presence of First Lady Dominique Ouattara and Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan. The program is structured around three thematic priorities: early childhood development through care and stimulation, life skills development in primary school, and self-employment and professional integration of young people in rural communities.
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Signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Côte d'Ivoire and the Jacobs Foundation
The Government of Côte d'Ivoire and the Jacobs Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 26 October 2016 setting out the respective commitments of the parties and the governance framework of the TRECC program.
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The Bernard van Leer Foundation and the UBS Optimus Foundation join the Jacobs Foundation to support the TRECC Program
Motivated by the existence of a partnership framework between the Government of Côte d'Ivoire and the Jacobs Foundation, the Bernard van Leer Foundation and the UBS Optimus Foundation decided to join the TRECC initiative in December 2016, injecting 3.3 billion and 1.8 billion (XOF) respectively. The investment of the various TRECC partners totals XOF 35.1 billion, mainly in the form of grants.
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Decisive meeting between the various ministries and the boards of directors of the partner foundations
The high-level meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister, brings together the ministers involved in the TRECC program and the heads of the Jacobs and Bernard van Leer foundations to conclude the grant agreements.
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Signing of the decree
The decree establishing the TRECC association is signed by the Minister of the Interior.
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The story continues...
