Islamabad (28 March, 2018)— The UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has approved the allocation of US$ 2.5 million for the continuation of the children’s education in the areas of return in South Waziristan (Serwakai, Sararogha and Tiarza tehsils) and Kurram (Lower, Central and Upper tehsils) agencies of FATA, Pakistan.
This nine-months project, starting from April 2018 will complement the government response and help increase enrolment particularly in girls’ schools of FATA. It will address the unmet education needs for around 13,000 girls, boys, women and men in the target agencies. The overall objective of this project is to provide quality education to the children, re-establish routine and normalcy in their lives through psycho-social support, reduce risk of exploitation, provide a child-friendly learning environment and equip them with life skills. The initiative has been designed in response to numerous assessments and feedback received from government counterparts and communities in FATA.
The project will rehabilitate 80 partially damaged school buildings and will construct 50 prefabricated classrooms in 25 fully damaged schools. It will also provide schools supplies and furniture to the schools rehabilitated and train 210 teachers on pedagogy, psychosocial support and child-friendly teaching. Communities will also be involved in the project activities and effective school management through the reactivation/training of 105 Taleemi Islahi Jirgas (TIJs) in the target schools.
The project activities will be jointly implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in close collaboration with FATA Secretariat. Both agencies have extensive experience in supporting access to quality education and have developed close collaboration with relevant stakeholders in FATA.
Media contact:
Fatimah Inayat, Communications Analyst, +92 51 835 5650 or fatimah.inayet@undp.org