Learning

Insecurity presents a significant development challenge in the 21st Century. According to OECD, more than half of the world’s poor will be living in countries affected by high levels of violence by 2030.

Ten country teams from throughout Africa gathered in Uganda to attend a hands-on Accelerated Education training developed by the Accelerated Education Working Group with support from ECCN and USAID.

The 2018 USAID Education Policy made equity and equal access to quality education a priority area, with a particular focus on increasing access among the most marginalized and vulnerable children and youth.

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.

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.