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USAID Yemen Education Fact Sheet, 17 September 2019

Pays
Yémen
Sources
USAID
Date de publication
Origine
Voir l'original

USAID is helping reach the most vulnerable children in Yemen and providing critical support to help the education system withstand the immediate impact of the crisis.

The U.S. Government has partnered with the people of Yemen since 1959 to address the humanitarian and development needs of the country. As a result of the ongoing civil war, Yemen is suffering the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. USAID is working with international and local partners to rebuild key social and economic institutions, help address the underlying causes of instability, and build the foundation for durable peace and prosperity to foster Yemen’s future resilience.

Since the latest conflict erupted, widespread displacement, damage to schools, and general insecurity have left millions of children without reliable access to schooling. Many have also been exposed to serious psychological trauma, further putting their education at risk. An estimated 2,000 schools have been partially or completely destroyed due to conflict, are being used to host internally displaced people (IDPs), or occupied by armed groups. Of the over 3.6 million IDPs in Yemen, approximately 2 million are school children and youth(link is external), which further contributes to education gaps. Insecurity and shortage of funds are also affecting the Ministry of Education’s ability to provide education services, including end-of-year year national exams.

USAID'S RESPONSE AND EXPECTED RESULTS

USAID/Yemen restores access and facilitates re-entry to basic education with the Ministry of Education through activities including A Back to School Campaign that supports for a country-wide campaign using electronic and print media with communities and parent father/mother councils will help increase enrollment. This campaign also provides 70,000 students with school bags and basic learning supplies. USAID helps ensure that 200 schools can continue to serve at least 70,000 students by covering the schools’ day-to-day expenses and supporting minor repairs to ensure an environment conducive to learning. 600,000 students who are in school must complete year end grade 9 and 12 national exams to continue or complete their education. USAID’s support will allow these critical exams to be conducted safely and effectively, helping to ensure the future success of students. A pilot self-learning program for out of school children allows 15,000 students in the highest risk areas who cannot access schools to continue their education. The program’s curriculum was developed in close coordination with Ministry of Education officials to assure that students can earn diplomas and re-integrate into formal schools when possible. The psychological trauma children face after prolonged exposure to displacement, instability, and conflict can have long term consequences for them and their communities. A psychosocial support for the most affected children activity works with teachers, families, and communities to help over 1,300 children receive one-on-one referrals to overcome this trauma by supporting the development of positive coping mechanisms. USAID supports the development and implementation of safety and emergency plans for 100 schools across 11 governorates to help ensure that schools can protect their students and are seen by families a safe space for their children, even if conflict continues.

Under the School Doors Project, USAID/Yemen supports identification and enrollment of out-of-school children and youth in to accelerated learning and remedial learning spaces. Teacher recruitment and training in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, will include activities such as the Enroll Children in School activity will reach 50,000 out of school children and youth, providing them with learning opportunities to return them to the mainstream systems. USAID supports remedial teaching and learning for teachers, as well as the identification of children with post-traumatic stress disorder to provide them with psycho-social assistance and recreation to support learning under the strain of conflict. USAID works with local parent/guardian councils to encourage them to keep children in school and reinforce the social network. Those councils will reach out to parents in their communities to not only support parents as they bring their children to supportive learning centers, but will also focus on ensuring that girls are enrolled and retained in the classroom as well.

In July 2018 USAID in partnership with the World Food Program, launched a school meals program to stabilize school attendance of both boys and girls. Food insecurity is one of the targeting criteria, positively impacting food availability and nutritional status of the children. The activity works with local government and ministry partners on joint program implementation. The Ministries of Education (MoE) have pledged their full support to this process. In July 2019 the United Arab Emirates contributed $5 million to USAID to further expand the school feeding program. This program is reaching 450,000 school children over a period of one year and is starting in the governorates of Sa’ada, Taizz, Lahj and Shabwa with roughly two thirds of beneficiaries residing in the North and one third in the South. Students are given a nutritious snack during the morning for onsite dry feeding, consisting of either 100g high energy biscuits in the southern governorates and 80g of date bars in the northern governorates as an incentive for regular attendance and to address short term hunger. Part of the commodities are locally produced to stimulate the local economy and help ensure a flexible response as the ongoing conflict may lead to temporary discontinuation of classes.