Learning

Laura Harrington, an international manager for Chemonics, supports a program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that improves access, quality, and governance in both formal and non-formal education.

Societies around the world struggle with violent pasts and with the legacies of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes. Not acknowledging or accepting such traumas may fracture social cohesion and leave lasting grievances.

Crisis affects the education of 80 million children worldwide. An education intervention, if designed well, can improve the conditions these children face; done poorly, it can exacerbate the conflict. This is why conflict sensitivity is critical.

Children living in crisis and conflict settings face many barriers to learning. While schools can provide them a stable and welcoming environment to help them cope with instability, they can also be breeding grounds for peer violence.

Hau’wa loved school. At 12, she dreamed of one day becoming a teacher in her town in northeastern Nigeria, even as Boko Haram’s ruthless grip tightened, and insurgents captured Hau’wa and dozens of women and children.

When countries experience violent conflict, natural disasters, epidemics, or other crises, education is one of the first sectors to be severely disrupted. Governments may become unable to provide public education, as funding is shifted.

USAID’s Accelerated Quality Education for Liberian Children brought accelerated learning to out-of-school children ages 8–15. Look back on lessons learned and see how a Rapid Education and Risk Analysis helped the project.

Even before South Sudan gained independence in 2011, education improved significantly. The return to war in December 2013, however, eroded many of the improvements in access to and quality of education.