3 tips to design education programs for roving and displaced communities

JUBA, South Sudan — While humanitarian actors in South Sudan are stretched ever thinner, some development agencies are focusing on improving access to education, specifically for remote and displaced communities. About 4 million South Sudanese people have been displaced since the country’s civil war erupted four years ago. Some 2 million have fled to neighboring countries while the other 2 million have become internally displaced, with over 200,000 currently sheltered in United Nations-protected camps across the country. Providing education for displaced and remote communities is especially challenging, but development organizations such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization advocate that any gains made through pastoralist livelihood support are at risk of failing without accompanying education. Devex spoke with Ezana Kassa, project manager for FAO and Akuja Mading, team leader for Girls’ Education South Sudan about how to design and implement these specialized programs. Here are some of the guidelines they came up with: 1. Understand the context and prioritize flexibility. GESS’ Mading stressed the need to “clearly understand the context of what’s required” when designing programs for displaced communities. The best way to do this is through proximity, she said. Instead of trying to run things in the field from Juba or dictate activities from an office, the closer you are to the school centers you’re working with, the more effective the program will be. FAO’s Kassa added that appreciating the context of these communities should provide the basis for adapting the approach. The need for project flexibility specifically pertains to roving pastoralist communities. Due to threats from insecurity and cattle raiding, the camp’s movement patterns can be “spontaneous” and are often diverted, forcing people to end up in remote and inaccessible areas, Kassa said. The project should be tailored to ensure there’s capacity within those cattle camps to continue providing classes no matter where they are. For example, learning materials should be kept light and portable, and people should be assigned to help the teacher with his or her materials. Facilitators need to be fed by community leaders. GESS also designates focal points, those they refer to as “county-level colleagues,” who move with the displaced communities and act as the program’s primary point of contact wherever they go. 3. Identify facilitators from the same community. “The frequent movement and harsh environment in these remote areas pose a big challenge for any teacher or facilitator deployed from towns,” Kassa said. Although facilitators must have the equivalent of a high school education in order to work with the program, Kassa said it’s more important that they’re from the same community, understand it, and that they can weather the environment. Previous cases of facilitators from other villages failed. In many instances, the teachers couldn’t go to the remote areas where the cattle keepers went. In others, they weren’t accepted by the community. Course facilitators receive training in two phases, totaling three months during the first year, much of which is focused on integrated livelihood and education. They also receive fortnightly retraining in subsequent years to improve their knowledge and skills. 4. Foster a safe environment. When people are displaced, the context changes, Mading said. Before being displaced, the priority regarding to education might have been the budget for the child’s school fees. Those change upon displacement because of trauma and added tension. Displaced children attending school often find themselves in the same class as youth from other communities, and this can also be contentious. GESS has designed and redesigned programs specifically on how to make sure that “school is safe enough that children aren’t feeling concerned in that environment,” Mading said. In order to help foster and create a safe atmosphere, GESS has implemented a social and behavior change communication component to both their radio and outreach programs. This reflects real life experiences and stories of people whose lives have been affected by conflict. For example, displaced young people talk about their experiences in the hopes of inspiring and supporting newly displaced youth, mostly girls, in continuing to learn and staying motivated. Devex delivers cutting-edge insights and analysis to the leaders shaping and innovating the business of development. Make sure you don't miss out. Become a Devex Executive Member today.