Children and parents in the Middle East don’t need to be convinced of the importance of education programming, even when regional unrest has driven people into their houses or to neighboring countries.
What draws students away from learning instead is the need for income and financial support in an economically crippled region.
“What we’re trying to do in addition to conditional cash transfers is peer-to-peer education,” Country Director for CARE International Salam Kanaan told Devex.
Kanaan said a lack of financial resources is the number one barrier to education in Jordan, which currently hosts more than 620,000 refugees, many of them children.
Roberta Contin, country director for Global Communities in Yemen, agrees. As the civil war in Yemen rages on, young Yemenis’ desire for education hasn’t diminished.
“They still want to go,” Contin told Devex. “And we are still operational, and the students call every day to say they want to go for the vocational training.”
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About the authors
Molly Andersmollyanders_dev
Molly Anders is a U.K. Correspondent for Devex. Based in London, she reports on development finance trends with a focus on British and European institutions. She is especially interested in evidence-based development and women’s economic empowerment, as well as innovative financing for the protection of migrants and refugees. Molly is a former Fulbright Scholar and studied Arabic in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.
Kelli Rogers@kellierin
Kelli Rogers is a global development reporter for Devex. Based in Bangkok, she covers disaster and crisis response, innovation, women’s rights, and development trends throughout Asia. Prior to her current post, she covered leadership, careers, and the USAID implementer community from Washington, D.C. Previously, she reported on social and environmental issues from Nairobi, Kenya. Kelli holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and has since reported from more than 20 countries.
