Collective Approach to Education in Emergency Services

I had an opportunity of serving as the Project Coordinator and later as Assistant Head of Programs to a humanitarian organization sponsored by UNICEF in South Sudan. The organization’s name, Abyei Development Association (ADA), had political intonations given the struggle for Abyei between the Sudan and South Sudan. Based in Juba, the capital, ADA’s area of operation was on the border of South Sudan and Sudan, a distance of more than 800km from Juba. Furthermore, ADA was not operating in Abyei Region, a special designated region, but in Abiemnom County, part of the larger Unity State. ADA had taken up the burden of implementing education projects to pupils in far-flanked area of Abiemnom County in Unity State of South Sudan. The name of project was aptly named, Education in Emergency (EiE) Project, a befitting number for an area occupied by returnees of civil war and which did not speak English as their language of instruction, even though the curriculum for learners is in English.

This writer, on the left, with colleagues at County Education Offices, Abiemnom County

Other than coordinating the implementation of project with field staff and sponsors, which was my primary role, I was also monitoring and evaluating the project given the lack of staff and the fact that the organization of young in the field of humanitarian services. I was therefore charged, not just with coordinating the project but also attending meetings at United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), keeping up with updates from other clusters other than education, and making regular reports on the progress of the project.

Of course this may sound interesting because it involved directly impacting lives of people. But amid all those responsibilities, one of the most impacting experiences was when I traveled to Abiemnom for monitoring and evaluation of the project. Many things became clear to me that providing education to vulnerable children during the time of emergency was not just an act of humanity but a responsibility that every player in the industry needed to take at heart. Though, our project was being funded by one of the best child-friendly organizations in the world, the burden of proof placed on those implementing the project was too heavy to the extent that I started thinking as though the out of school children were simply faking their predicament. The bone of contention here is not the stringent rules that donors put in place to prevent misuse of funds. But rather the issue is the many protocols and bureaucracies that those who work in the field have to go through to be able to provide the much needed service to deserving people.

Substantial numbers of children are unable to access education due to emergencies or impact of emergencies around the world. Save the Children defines Education in Emergency as “A set of linked project activities that enable structured learning to continue in times of acute crisis or long-term instability.” Education must be seen as one of the fundamental components of humanitarian response. Many countries however do not have a clearly defined emergency response preparedness especially for education services. In many African countries, the notion that every child has a right to education is superseded by the urgency of providing food, shelter, and health care services when an emergency strikes.

In Kenya, for example, during the long rains of the past season, unprecedented number of people were displaced from their homes, rendering many homesteads and schools unusable. School properties were destroyed and roads made impassable for children to use while going to school. In most cases, families were displaced to higher grounds where they were forced to wait for water to recede before they could trace the way back to their homes. But it also revealed the level of unpreparedness not just from the government side but all stakeholders in the education sector. The Ministry of Education in Kenya has not had a robust Education in Emergency Response Policy that can guide the provision of education services to children and others that might be in need.

Much as EiE is focused on meeting the needs of children in school, a broader approach can help to develop a preparedness strategy among parents, teachers, children, and the government. In my experience in South Sudan, I discovered that years of civil conflicts in the country may have hardened the views of parents about EiE for their children. Many people in Abiemnom County are returnees from Sudan, having fled the area due to tribal and cross-border conflicts. Even though Abiemnom County is relatively peaceful and economically stable compared to other counties in Unity State, a lack of preparedness and years of neglect has seen many children dropping out of school or never attending school.