Education in Emergencies and Early Reconstruction: UNICEF Interventions in Colombia, Liberia, and Southern Sudan
Author: Beleli, Ozsel
Date: 2007-03-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Foreign Countries,War,Violence,Conflict,Emergency Programs,Access to Education,Context Effect,Individual Development,International Organizations,Economic Climate,Graduate Students,Educational Policy,Educational Research,Educational Quality,Trusts (Financial),Financial Support,Leadership,Psychological Patterns,Intervention,Program Effectiveness

Broad access to quality, child-friendly education in emergencies is a critical component of early reconstruction and development. As a class of graduate students at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, our goal is to make a modest contribution to the field of education in emergencies by working with UNICEF to analyze the ways in which its policies are reflected in education programming in emergency relief and reconstruction phases. Colombia, Liberia, and Southern Sudan were chosen as cases because they vary in context such that comparatively they provide a perspective on the provision of education at different stages of the development spectrum. We hope to draw conclusions with a range of applicability to many types of conflict and crisis situations. To do so we highlight areas where information sharing might provide for improvements in the education of vulnerable children, while keeping in mind the differing contexts. The report provides a series of country specific and general conclusions that illustrate which programmatic and contextual factors lead to effective provision of education services in emergencies. This report describes in detail the state of the education sector in each of the three countries followed by an analysis of UNICEF programming. Descriptions of the education systems focus on the policy framework and constraints, administration and finance, service delivery, and curriculum. The analysis of UNICEF in each case is based on a set of policy directives underlying the agency's work, which include the commitment to re-establish and sustain basic education services, a focus on the quality of education including aspects of psychosocial development, a commitment to target the most vulnerable children, the provision of an integrated approach to education, and a leadership role in coordination among agencies. Several central themes that emerge from these descriptions and analyses of each country are summarized below by country and in our overall findings. We also briefly summarize our recommendations. The following are appended: (1) Laws and Decrees Concerning Basic Education for Children Affected by Conflict Return to Happiness Assessment Form (Colombia); (2) Return to Happiness program diagnostics form (Colombia); (3) The Historical Roots of the Conflict (Liberia); (4) The Liberian Civil War; (5) Educational Statistics by County (Liberia); (6) Detailed Organizational Diagram of the Ministry of Education (Liberia); (7) Consolidated Appeal (9 October 2006) (Liberia); (8) Timeline of Conflict in Southern Sudan; (9) History of Conflict in Southern Sudan; (10) Summary of the Key Features of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) (Southern Sudan); (11) UN Operations in Southern Sudan; (12) The Multi-Donor Trust Fund (Southern Sudan); (13) Organizational Diagram of Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (Southern Sudan); (14) Organizational Diagram of State Ministry of Education (Southern Sudan); (15) UNICEF's Child Friendly Schools (Southern Sudan); (16) Structure of Teacher Training and Qualification Programs (Southern Sudan); and (17) MoEST [Ministry of Education, Science and Technology] Teacher Training Program (Southern Sudan). (Contains 2 diagrams, 9 figures, 30 footnotes, and 480 endnotes.) [Project Advisor was: Gonzalo Retamal. This document was prepared for UNICEF by: &quot;WWS 591d Education in Emergencies&quot; workshop, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University.]