Project profile — Addressing the Education Needs of Internally Displaced Children during COVID-19 and Beyond

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) reduced gender-based barriers to internally displaced girls' pre-primary and primary education during COVID-19 and beyond in the target districts of Somali and Oromia; and (2) improved provision of safe, gender-responsive and quality pre-primary and primary education and distance learning for internally displaced children during COVID-19 and beyond.

Results achieved as of the end of the project (February 2022) include: (1) the rate of attendance by girls increased to 84 % and boys by 96% as opposed to 40% at its start; (2) two-thirds of the girls (68%) recorded an average attendance rate of over 80%, with the remaining girls (32%) recording an attendance rate of between 61-79%; (3) by comparison, 100% of the boys recorded an average attendance rate of over 84%; and (4) the project directly reached 38,690 Internally Displaced Persons ( 11,567 girls, 13,909 boys, 6,781 women and 6,433 men), slightly exceeding the project target of 38,331. Contributing factors to the increased attendance rate were strong follow-up with students by the school administration, parent-teacher associations and Save the Children’s project staff and the distribution of educational materials and sanitary pads.