Today, the European Union and its partners, Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council, Lutheran World Federation, Association of Volunteers in International Service and Windle Trust have launched the Support to Education for Refugees in Dadaab (SERD) Programme. This 36 months EU funded programme aims at providing increased access to quality of formal, non-formal education and vocational training opportunities for Somali children who reside in the world's biggest camp.
The Somali children and youth living in those camps have been living up to now without any perspectives. Lots of them have never seen Somalia and are virtual prisoners in overcrowded camps where education is limited and where illegal income-earning opportunities are an attractive alternative while skilled youths are willing to go back to Somalia to take part in the reconstruction of their country. According to recent UN reports, only 57.000 of Dadaab’s 221.000 school-age children and youth are enrolled in school. The number of students who actually complete school is much lower as the dropout rates are very high especially for girls.
The new EU grant worth 3.5 million EUR will improve school level infrastructure, increase the number trained teachers, build school management capacities and expand vocational training opportunities. The action will also explore innovative approaches to basic education provision such as integrated pre-schools, Accelerated Learning Programmes and mobile schools. And through a complementary Somali-wide education programme, the Education Synergies (SWES), the EU will support limited number of scholarships to secondary leavers in Dadaab to pursue university education.
Girls, who are greatly disadvantaged in the formal education system, both in the camps and in host communities, will be specifically targeted. The programme aims at enhancing their chances in attending, participating and persisting in school.
The EU support to education for Somali refugees in Dadaab is anchored in the Joint Strategy for Education in Dadaab 2012-2015 and which seeks to accelerate provision of quality education in Dadaab refugee camps and surrounding host communities. The EU support will be implemented in close coordination with UNHCR, UNICEF and other education partners to maximize benefits for target beneficiaries in the camps. END
For more information:
Magali Uytterhaeghe
Press and Information Officer
Delegation of the European Union in Kenya
Somalia Unit
P.O. Box 45119
00100 Nairobi
Tel: +254.20.271.28.30
Fax: +254.20.271.09.97
Cell: +254.717.10.44.14
Email: Magali.UYTTERHAEGHE@ext.eeas.europa.eu
Website: http://www.eu-somalia-unit.eu