Inclusive Education for Out of School IDP Children in Sittwe, Central Rakhine This project is designed to meet urgent needs in education for protracted Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Sittwe Township, Rakhine State, as well as taking an inclusive approach to bring children with disabilities into mainstream education, through direct support to teachers and caregivers to empower children with disabilities to participate in learning, at home and in classrooms.

These interventions directly target a total of 6184 Rohingya IDPs, living in five IDP camps in Sittwe. This includes 122 men, 65 women (all teachers), and 3317 boys and 2680 girls currently accessing temporary learning spaces. Included in this number, the project will increase the involvement in education of 281 children with disabilities (132 boys and 149 girls), who are currently partly or wholly excluded from education, or whose access to education may not be meaningful. The project is closely aligned with the education SRPs and the priorities of this call. It will complement LWF’s existing work through other funding sources to draw more girls into education and women into teaching, while HI’s role within the project will directly target the inclusion of children with disabilities in education. Gender balanced staff will be recruited where possible, and gender- and disability-disaggregated data will be collected.

The Lutheran World Federation Myanmar (LWF) and Humanity and Inclusion (HI) are well positioned to implement this project in partnership, LWF has been present in Myanmar since 2008 and in Rakhine State since 2013. In Rakhine, LWF is a Camp Management Agency (CMA) and also manages education in eight camps including the five covered by this proposed project, and an additional three in Pauktaw. LWF is currently implementing three EiE projects in Rakhine State, as well as one multisectoral MHF-funded project with EiE elements. LWF is an integral part of EiE coordination mechanisms in Rakhine and nationally, and this, combined with LWF’s position as CMA, will ensure all interventions add value and that duplication is avoided.

Co-applicant Humanity and Inclusion (HI, (legally Fédération Handicap International) is an international, independent and impartial aid and development organization operating in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. HI works alongside people with disabilities and vulnerable people to help meet their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights. HI's first activities in Myanmar were in response to Cyclone Nargis, from October 2008 to December 2009. HI reopened a mission in Myanmar in 2014 and opened an office in Sittwe in June 2019, through a joint intervention with ACF in order to prevent under-nutrition, reduce development delays and prevent disabilities amongst severely malnourished children. 

LWF and HI are already working together within the existing Rakhine EiE consortium funded by the Australian Humanitarian Partnership, and this project will build on the strong working relationship established through that project, as well as the in-depth assessment of barriers and facilitators to education for children with disabilities in Rakhine State that HI is currently conducting under this project. With additional funding from MHF, LWF and HI are strategically positioned to develop activities and techniques for inclusive education in emergency contexts which could be scaled across other sites and actors.  

Both LWF and HI will be working with existing project staff who are experienced and aware of the safety and security concerns of the project sites, including those pertaining to COVID-19, as well as having ongoing relationships with the partner communities in question.