Education Cannot Wait (ECW) on Thursday announced a $27 million investment to support the delivery of quality inclusive education to close to 750,000 girls and boys displaced by the crises in Ethiopia.
The funding will support the implementation of a new multi-year resilience programme developed by the Ministry of Education with the support of Education Cannot Wait and a range of partners – United Nations agencies and civil society organisations – and donors to address pressing humanitarian crises that have displaced over 2.6 million school-aged children.
According to UNICEF Ethiopia, the catalytic grant is designed to activate resource mobilization efforts from donors, civil society organizations, the private sector and philanthropic foundations to fully-fund the programme, which will cost an estimated $161 million over three years.
“This multi-year investment from Education Cannot Wait will help address one of the most important yet often overlooked needs for vulnerable children and youth in times of crisis,” said H.E. Dr. Tilaye Gete, Minister of Education, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. “By building a programmatic response that brings together multiple stakeholders including the local community, this is a sustainable investment in the future of our children and in the prosperity of our country.”
If fully funded, the programme will reach 745,000 children (380,000 boys and 365,000 girls, including 74,600 children with disabilities). To help address Ethiopia’s high drop-out rates at Grade 1, the programme focuses on early childhood education, providing improved educational opportunities for 213,000 per-primary and 532,000 primary school-aged children.
To improve the inclusive quality of education, and create equitable, safe, protective and gender-sensitive learning environments, the programme will support over 1,200 refugee teachers and 10,000 national teachers in building their capacity to respond to the specific psychosocial needs of displaced children.
The programme will be led by Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education in partnership with Save the Children International, UNICEF, Education Cannot Wait and the Education Cluster. UNICEF and Save the Children will implement Education Cannot Wait’s US$27 million three-year grant.
MG/abj/APA