Education in emergencies

Funding Sought for Emergency Education for Millions of Children in Crisis

Noticias

Africa/ Cameroon/ 02.09.2019/ Source: www.voanews.com.

A global fund for education in emergencies is seeking $1.8 billion by 2021 to provide schooling for nine million children and youths caught in conflict and other situations of crisis.  The fund, called Education Cannot Wait was set up at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 to provide education for children deprived of this opportunity.

The Fund has raised $500 million since it began operating in 2017. In its first two years, it has provided emergency education for more than 1.5 million young people caught in armed conflict, forced displacement, natural disasters and other crises in 29 countries.

Director of Education Cannot Wait, Yasmine Sherif, said significant investments are being made in the Sahel, in countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger where the needs are among the greatest on earth. She said children in Cameroon have not gone to school for two years as a part of a tactic of war.

She told VOA education is specifically designed to deal with the suffering experienced by children caught in armed conflict, all of whom are seriously traumatized.

«So, quality education requires mental health and psycho-social services. That is number one. And, that is one of our absolute top priorities…Two. It requires inclusiveness and gender equality to ensure that every girl is put at the forefront, that they are not left the furthest behind of all those left furthest behind,» she said.

Sherif said the fund is working with the Government of Afghanistan to bring girls back to school. She said displaced children in Democratic Republic of Congo are being provided with an education now, so they do not have to wait until the conflict ends.

A recent report by the U.N. refugee agency finds half of the more than seven million refugee children in the world do not go to school. Sherif said almost 50 percent of the fund’s beneficiaries are girls. She said 46 percent are refugees and displaced youngsters and 14,000 are children with disabilities.

She said children who go to school are inoculated against many dangers.  She said those who do not have access to education, are at high risk of exploitation and abuse, sexual violence, early marriage and pregnancies, and forced recruitment by armed groups.

Fuente de la noticia: https://www.voanews.com/europe/funding-sought-emergency-education-millions-children-crisis

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Tanzania: Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) for Education in Emergencies (EIE): A Study for Plan International Tanzania

Reseñas

Executive Summary

As per the Global Goals (SDG 4- 4.1), Plan International has been strategically supporting girls’ secondary education and working to eliminate the barriers that hinder one of the significant barriers that Plan International Tanzania identified was a lack of support for Burundian refugee girls during their menstruation. This was seen as a contributor to both girls missing several days of school per month or dropping out altogether. Female students don’t have adequate facilities to wash themselves during their menstruation cycle, and that they use old clothes to stop the flow. In addition, they don’t have adequate space in which to change or wash their clothes, and, because of these difficulties, they felt it too challenging to attend school during menstruation.

The objectives were to conduct a thorough assessment of Plan International Tanzania’s MHM program for adolescent girls, to identify gaps and to advise on which additional subjects girls need in school. The study’s four objectives were to: • Identify the meaning of menstruation in the daily lives of adolescent girls in Nduta Camp; • Assess the impact of MHM on adolescent girls’ school attendance in Nduta Camp; • Assess the support resources (parents, teachers, community) align with MHM promotes the adolescent girls’ school attendance in Nduta Camp; • Identify other possible sources of support – from the viewpoints of the girls themselves A mixed-method assessment was used for this study; such as desk reviews, existing project document reviews, key informant interviews, focus group assessments (FGA) and field assessments (FA) were incorporated. In parallel combinations, methods were used separately, and the FGA and FA findings were integrated after the data was analysed.

Key Findings: When adolescent girls don’t feel clean, they are only focusing on this, and not on the lesson at all. The lack of MHM severely affects the daily school life of these girls. By the provided MHM trainings, they are now prepared for menstruation by having dignity kit. The relevancy and effectiveness of dignity kits and MHM trainings directly impacts adolescent girls’ school attendance. MHM training teach adolescent girls how to best take care of themselves during their period. Girls overwhelmingly do not have any reliable support from families, teachers – except a few female teachers- or the community. They are essentially on their own when they have their period, and it jeopardizes their school attendance and social interactions. Adolescent girls are in danger of several risks, the most important one dropping out of school. Additional supports for adolescent girls attending school are required, such as girls’ club activities, remedial classes (including for the NECTA exam), scholastic materials, and also community awareness campaign regarding girls’ education.
Key recommendations: Within the context of these recommendations are outlined in three subject areas: a. Minimise the risks of adolescent girls’ education, such as providing community based mentorship programs, positive environment for supporting girls’ academic success be provided, etc. b. Minimising the negative effects of menstruation on girls’ daily school lives, such as providing MHM training and dignity kit, gender-friendly latrines in the schools be built, etc. c. Maximising the support sources aligned with MHM, such as conducting informational training sessions on MHM for parents and teachers (for both male and female, implementing youth-centred MHM trainings and activities about the importance of girls education. At the same time, it is expected that educational stakeholders be more proactive; they should be more timely and need based in their responses so as to reduce the minimize risks and negative effects, and also to maximise the support sources aligned with MHM. Educational stakeholders should be supported technically and financially for these in terms of their quality and accountable response.
As per the Global Goals as well as the INEE MS Handbook, children who experience conflict, natural disasters or complex emergencies have a right to education and protection, and to have their communities make education a continuing priority.
Providing quality education for all is the primary responsibility of the national authorities, and is carried out by the ministries of education and local education authorities.
The importance of education should be given permanent priority by all related stakeholders, rather than the Government of Tanzania simply responding to the refugee crisis.

From: https://education.einnews.com/article/405650377/JlVpiJLP82NBf1bZ?lcf=ZdFIsVy5FNL1d6BCqG9muZ1ThG_8NrDelJyazu0BSuo%3D

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Education Cannot Wait – a fund for education in emergencies: Statement by the Global Campaign for Education

Campaña Latinoamericana por el Derecho a la Educación (CLADE)

By CLADE

462 million school-aged children – or one in four around the world – live in countries affected by crisis. 75 million are either in danger of, or are already, missing out on their right to a free, quality education. Education empowers and promotes resilience, provides a safe space and stability, is fundamental for children, youth and adults to tackle emergencies, and breaks the cycle of conflict.

Supporting children and young people living in some of the world’s most difficult contexts has proven to be a serious challenge: in 2015, only 12% of children identified as living in conflict situations were reached by humanitarian funding dedicated to education. Efforts must be redoubled if the world is to meet its shared ambition to leave no one behind.

As such, the Global Campaign for Education welcomes the launch of the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies, which was announced at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey, 23-24 May 2016. The fund aims to reach more than 13.6 million children and young people living in crisis situations, such as conflict, natural disasters and disease outbreaks, with quality education over the next five years, and 75 million by 2030. GCE believes that the new fund constitutes an historic opportunity to fund the future by ensuring access to quality education for some of the world’s most vulnerable children and young people.

The European Union, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States have all made financial contributions for the first year of the fund so far, with Denmark indicating its willingness to make a financial contribution in 2017. The fund’s target for the first year is US$150 million, with an overall ambition of achieving $3.5 billion over a five-year period; by the close of the World Humanitarian Summit, just over 50% of the year one target had been pledged.

GCE welcomes these pledges and will be holding governments to account by analysing these commitments in the coming days. It is crucial to ensure that new monies have been pledged, and that countries supporting the new Fund do not double-count commitments, such as those made during the February 2016 Syria Conference, or draw back their support from existing mechanisms, such as the Global Partnership for Education.

Similarly, GCE urges those governments making pledges to the new fund to commit to delivering the vision of equitable, inclusive and free quality education to which they have pledged for every child in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Education 2030 Framework for Action; all children, young people and adults have the same rights, and these rights should not be compromised for those living in crisis contexts. We particularly call on governments to ensure that public funds dedicated to education are used for quality, public provision and systems, and not to support for-profit private companies seeking to draw financial profit from humanitarian crises. This practice, known as ‘disaster capitalism’, has already been applied in several cases and contexts, and has proven to be profoundly detrimental to the realisation of human rights. For the right to education, it places quality, equity, and inclusion in serious jeopardy.

GCE also welcomes the fund’s commitment to being inclusive and transparent in its own governance. We call on the fund to adhere to the principle of engaging with and including civil society, both in its own governance arrangements and in its ways of working on the ground. The voice of citizens is vital to ensuring that its work is well-informed, and held accountable by those it seeks to serve.

GCE submitted its own pledge to the World Humanitarian Summit. The pledge encompassed building civil society capacity in countries afflicted by disaster and conflict to ensure citizens are involved in sector planning in and for such contexts, as well as monitoring education financing and delivery. At local, national, regional and international levels, GCE is also committed to advocating for increased and additional resources for education in emergencies and crises, and monitoring such commitments and delivery of services.

The statement above can be downloaded in English.

Source:

http://www.campaignforeducation.org/en/news/global/view/679-education-cannot-wait-a-fund-for-education-in-emergencies-statement-by-the-global-campaign-for-education

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