Network News Blog
Posted: 23/06/10
Today we are thrilled to announce the global launch of four major new inter-agency tools that have been developed by literally hundreds of INEE members over the past year.
A press release is available here. The listserv message sent to INEE members today is available here. Please share these widely with you colleagues and networks.
Visit the launch webpage to download all the tools and find out about regional launches planned over the next months: www.ineesite.org/launches2010.
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Posted: 07/06/10
James Lawrie and Odgerel Dandii led the Mongolia Dzud Education Needs Assessment for Save the Children. Here they reflect on some of the critical issues uncovered during March and April this year. The Report on the 2009-10 Dzud Disaster: Impact on Schools, Kindergartens, Children and Teachers in Mongolia, can be accessed here.
We entered the large socialist era brick building, removed our thick coats and received a strong welcoming handshake from the School Director. Following a cup of salty milk tea, and later a hearty meat-based lunch, we engaged in frank conversations about children, learning, living conditions and education during the Dzud emergency. The purpose of these visits, in one of the most sparsely populated countries on earth, was to learn how pre-school, primary and secondary education had been affected by a summer drought and a winter characterized by heavy snow and temperatures which dropped to -45oC.
Dzud Emergency
Mongolia is not a stranger to the weather system known as Dzud, but following ten years of ‘normal’ winters this year was particularly tough. In a country where 30% of the population relies on livestock for their livelihood, the loss of animals has profound implications. The National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) reported that by mid May 8.2 million animals, of an estimated 42million nationwide, had died during the winter.
Mongolia, 2010. photo courtesy of Adam Dean.
Mongolia, 2010. photo courtesy of James Lawrie/Save the Children.
Our approach
NEMA reports (8th February 2010) that over 210,000 children are living in areas ‘Affected’ or ‘Extremely Affected’. We approached the task of understanding Dzud’s influence on education in two ways: collecting survey data from School Directors from across the country (to gain a broad understanding of the impact), and conducting case studies in schools and kindergarten’s in affected areas (to capture the intrinsic issues at the school level).
Schools severely challenged - but coping
Through interviews with school leaders, focus groups with staff and children, workshops and observations, we uncovered some fascinating and, at times, unforeseen issues. Despite heavy snow and regular sub-30oC conditions, teachers and children continued to attend school. Although occasionally some schools had to shut for a few days, teaching and learning largely continued throughout the dzud, despite, in one particular case study, the wood-fired heating system breaking, stock piles of fuel running dangerously low, and increased levels of absenteeism due to illness and difficulty travelling. Impossible not to admire the resilience of schools and kindergartens that function in such conditions. It’s likely that the donation of wood and coal from NGOs and UN agencies was, in the end, what enabled many schools to maintain these near normal levels of operation.
Mongolia, 2010. photo courtesy of James Lawrie/Save the Children.
Dormitory children better off
Good schools protect children. In an emergency this is even more important. Outside the capital, schools provide dormitories for the children of herder families. We held focus groups with children staying in dormitories as well as children living in the local community. Free from the ear of their respected teachers they spoke frankly about living through Dzud. We found that the children living in the local community, especially those not with their parents, faced greater hardship. In contrast those in the dormitories reported good food, warmth and adult supervision. Issues common to both groups included few opportunities to wash, limited entertainment, dirty outdoor unisex toilets and great anxiety regarding family livelihoods.
Personal debt tormenting teachers
Through focus groups we consistently found teachers were worried about their often crippling levels of personal debt. Cuts in real earnings (after inflation) combined with the deaths of their livestock have taken their toll. The full extent of this problem along with its likely implications for education in Mongolia is unknown, although we met many teachers who were incredibly anxious about their domestic situation. Worryingly, many of these teachers offered no shortage of insinuation that teaching good lessons was increasingly of secondary importance.
The full report details many other issues including stockpiling of fuel, school budgets, and sector wide issues of preparedness and planning. This was a Needs Assessment conducted during Dzud – further research on internal migration, attendance and exam results will be needed to further understand the impact of Dzud on education in Mongolia.
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Posted: 26/03/10
Click here to access the new annual report and learn more about the network’s accomplishments and growth in 2009!
Join INEE to receive moderated listserv messages and stay on top of developments in the field of Education in Emergencies.
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Posted: 26/03/10
An external review of the INEE Working Group on Education and Fragility is currently underway and we would like to request your participation. The purpose of the review is to document the activities of the Working Group as well as other work to date, analyze its strengths and weaknesses, identify lessons learned, and suggest priorities for the future. The review will also feed into the INEE Strategic Planning process, which is planned for later this year.
Data for the review are being collected through a documentary analysis, in-depth phone interviews with a variety of stakeholders internal and external to the Working Group, as well as through a short survey which the wider INEE membership is invited to contribute to.
We would therefore like to kindly request your participation. Please take a few minutes to answer the 10 questions in the survey – whatever your level of knowledge about the work of the Working Group on Education and Fragility, your answers will be important in shaping the findings and conclusions of the review. To participate in the survey please click here.
To join INEE and receive news and resources directly to your inbox click here.
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Posted: 10/02/10
Dale Buscher is Director of Protection at the Women’s Refugee Commission.
Even before the earthquake struck, some 800,000 persons in Haiti were living with disabilities, including 200,000 children. An estimated 194,000-250,000 people were injured in the earthquake, many of whom will suffer long-term disabilities. Handicap International estimates that there are at least 2,000 new amputees.
People with disabilities are often overlooked, neglected and forgotten in disaster relief and humanitarian response. Yet they are among the most vulnerable of the affected, particularly if they have lost their traditional caregivers-extended families and neighbors. The organization I work for, the Women’s Refugee Commission, has identified problems faced by displaced people living with disabilities in settings around the world-and proposed solutions. We have outlined some key activities to help the people of Haiti who have sustained disabling injuries.
Humanitarian agencies and others working in Haiti must take these people’s needs, concerns and abilities into account when designing and implementing programs and activities in order to promote access, inclusion and the full participation of persons with disabilities. This is true whether providing shelter, food, water and sanitation, health services, education or livelihoods.
Since people with disabilities are often kept hidden out of sight or are unable to reach registration centers, special efforts must be made to locate and register them to ensure they receive the services they need.
Dozens of makeshift camps have sprung up around Port-au-Prince. As the crisis continues, it is likely that more long-term camps will be established. The shelters in these camps—as well as latrines, water points and bathing areas—must be accessible to all, and people with disabilities, including women, should be involved in decisions about where they are located. As planning for reconstruction gets underway, people with disabilities should be included, to make sure that permanent shelters, schools, health centers and other public buildings are accessible to everyone.
We saw disturbing pictures of near-riots as desperate people have fought to get food and water at distribution points. In such situations, the likelihood of people with disabilities getting anything is remote. They should be prioritized in food and water distributions, and arrangements should be made to deliver rations to those who are immobile.
Access to health care, including reproductive health services, is critical. Doctors and other health care staff, both those working with humanitarian agencies and Haitians, need to be trained on disability issues, and specialized treatment and assistive devices must be provided. There will be a great need for prostheses, and experts to fit them.
Many of the newly disabled are children and young people. Temporary and reconstructed schools must be made accessible to them, and it is important that children with disabilities be mainstreamed into regular schools and classrooms whenever possible. Children with specific learning needs should receive special educational services. This will mean providing appropriate training and support to teachers to equip them with the skills to address the learning needs of children with disabilities.
Besides having special needs, people with disabilities have great potential. Taking advantage of their skills, experiences and expertise, they should be tapped as program staff, project resource persons and program participants. They should also be included in skills training, income generation and employment projects, including cash- and food-for-work projects.
Those living with disabilities were underserved in Haiti prior to the earthquake and were often shunned and stigmatized. The emergency response and reconstruction efforts provide an opportunity to amend past neglect and discrimination and assist persons with disabilities to live richer, more dignified lives. Designing interventions that take into account the specific needs and abilities of people with disabilities can have an enormous effect on improving their well-being and their protection.
Click to download the Women’s Refugee Commission’s Persons With Disabilities and the Humanitarian Response in Haiti: Key Messages and Guidance for Action in English, French and Creole.
Click here to download the INEE Pocket Guide to Inclusive Education.
This post was originally published in The Huffington Post.
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Posted: 05/02/10
The GMR Team invites INEE members to participate in the on-line consultation (on-going through February 28) to develop content and research priorities for the 2011 Education for All Global Monitoring Report on Education and Violent Conflict.
Click here to learn more and get involved!
To receive updates such as this directly to your inbox visit www.ineesite.org/join.
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Posted: 05/02/10
Today we sent a message to INEE members with news of the winners of the 2009 Jackie Kirk Commemorative Competition.
Click here to read the entire message.
Click here go to the announcement webpage here.
To join INEE and receive news and resources directly to your inbox click here.
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Posted: 25/01/10
Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, launched Reaching the Marginalized, the 2010 Education for All Global Monitoring Report at UN headquarters in New York on 19 January 2010. This was followed on 20 January by a policy event in Washington, DC at the Brookings Institution.
Click here to read the INEE listserv message about the launch, including the Report’s findings on conflict, natural disasters and marginalisation.
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Posted: 21/01/10
Today we sent a message to INEE members with the latest information about the crisis in Haiti, and updates on the coordination of education response.
As the response to the acute emergency in Haiti continues, and educational services are reestablished, INEE morns the losses to our community, and emphasizes the role our sector, and INEE as a network can play as Haitians work to rebuild. Sharing tools and information and connecting education practitioners working directly on the relief effort with those that have experience from other emergencies is a service we encourage all INEE members to engage with and contribute to. Please comment below, link to tools or ask for more information.
Click here to read the entire message.
To join INEE and receive news and resources directly to your inbox click here.
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Posted: 11/01/10
Click here to view today’s listserv message to learn more about the call for applications and the criteria to join the INEE Steering Group.
To join INEE and receive all future moderated listserv messages please visit www.ineesite.org/join.
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