As a new school year begins for millions of children worldwide, across crisis-affected contexts there are 72 million children out of school and another 127 million in school but unable to learn key skills. The IRC reiterates its call for proven and scalable solutions focused on education and early childhood development as a core part of humanitarian response plans worldwide. 

Education has long been chronically underfunded throughout the humanitarian sector, with as little as 2.5% of humanitarian funding going to education programs. These barriers persist even with IRC and others’ research showing that funding for education in emergencies is both a necessary and wise investment, with each $1 invested in education yielding as much as $13 in economic growth. 

The IRC and partners continue to deliver much-needed education and early childhood development programs around the world to reach the last mile in crisis settings, including by incorporating artificial intelligence and other technologies. Examples of these programs include: 

Education Technology with OpenAI: the IRC is developing aprendIA, an AI-driven educational chatbot platform that delivers personalized learning experiences that crisis-affected communities can access—in particular, teachers and parents. By integrating with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the IRC will be able to rapidly create content, support overstretched teachers and personalize digital education experiences for improved learning outcomes and teacher empowerment, while researching the effectiveness of AI in education in safe and ethical ways. 
Climate Resilient Education Systems Trial (CREST): with UK government support CREST harnesses AI-enabled predictive technology and innovative climate finance to ensure children and communities in northern Kenya are protected from the effects of climate-related school closures and can continue to learn and return to school safely after climate disasters strike. 
Ahlan Simsim:  With support from the MacArthur Foundation and LEGO Foundation, the Ahlan Simsim initiative is the single largest early childhood intervention in the history of humanitarian response. In 6 years, it has reached over 3.5M children and caregivers across Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria, and is expanding support in Libya, Yemen, and Palestine. Ahlan Simsim combines the power of Sesame Workshop’s proven educational media with IRC’s expertise working with conflict- and crisis-affected communities to deliver innovative programs backed by research. These programs are implemented by the IRC and local partners including civil society and government actors. 
Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crises (ERICC) Research Programme Consortium: with the need for more sustainable and coherent education systems in conflict and protracted crisis settings, this UK-funded multi-year research program identifies the most effective approaches for improving access, quality, and continuity of education, and ultimately to improve holistic outcomes for children. Countries of focus include Bangladesh, Jordan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria.
TeachWell: supported by the LEGO Foundation and the Grundfos Foundation, this innovative teacher professional development program works with refugee and host community teachers in Kenya. TeachWell uses ‘learning through play’ pedagogy to support the implementation of Kenya’s new Competence Based Curriculum by fostering essential skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving, which are vital in promoting holistic learning among children.
Kulea Watoto – meaning ‘nurturing children’ in Swahili – is a Conrad N. Hilton Foundation supported program in Uganda which uses a two-generation approach to reach children under five years of age with early childhood development and their caregivers with economic development to deliver improved outcomes for families. 
PlayMatters: this program, made possible with support from the LEGO Foundation, strengthens existing education systems to train and support teachers operating across the humanitarian-development nexus to use an active teaching and learning approach through play to reach 800,000 refugee and host community children across Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda, to develop holistic skills, well-being, and a love of learning to enable them to lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

Emma Gremley, IRC’s Senior Director for Education, said: 

“All too often children bear the brunt of conflict and crises, their education derailed and their chances of a safe and productive future jeopardized. If these children are to heal, recover and get back on track to lead healthy, fulfilling and meaningful lives, their academic, social-emotional and supportive care needs must be addressed.  

“This work will not look the same in every context. The particular needs of children and their caregivers and the best ways to reach them will vary depending on where they are and what they have experienced. But every single child has the right to learn and grow in safety. At the IRC, we are doing our part to safeguard and advance that right in ways that will strengthen the wider humanitarian sector’s approach. We call on the humanitarian and education communities to commit the time and resources needed to support the most vulnerable in crises settings: children and families.”  

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Rescue Committee (IRC) .

The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development today held a lengthy, thorough and frank engagement with the Justice and Constitutional Development Minister, Ms Thembi Simelane, on the allegations relating to a VBS Mutual Bank loan.

Committee Chairperson Mr Xola Nqola said members of the committee take their responsibility of holding the executive to account extremely seriously. “You could see from the engagement that members are robust, aggressive in line of questions, prepared and wanted answers. At the same time, the Minister was eloquent and did not shy away from responding to those robust questions.”

Mr Nqola said the Minister took the committee into her confidence about the loan and reiterated that it was not a kickback but rather a loan that she fully repaid. “This was a crucial matter and the committee, the country, needed clarity on it,” he said.

The Minister informed the committee that she wanted to purchase a coffee shop and intended to withdraw from her retirement savings to do so. However, when she understood the tax implications of this course of action, she realised it did not make financial sense to do so. She then approached Gundo Wealth Solutions, which indicated that it could provide a loan for the purchase. The minister explained that although she was mayor of the Polokwane Municipality at the time of the loan, Gundo Wealth Solutions was not one of the municipality’s service providers.

The committee heard that the Minister was unaware that Gundo was not a registered financial service provider. She emphasised that she took a loan from Gundo and not VBS Mutual Bank.

The Minister assured the committee that she did not have an improper relationship with Mr Ralliom Razwinane, the owner of Gundo Wealth Solutions, who has since been arrested on corruption charges relating to VBS Mutual Bank. The Minister went on to say that she did not receive any improper benefits from the loan contractor.

The Minister does not own the coffee shop anymore and told the committee that she closed it when the lease was up for renewal during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The committee also questioned her about perceptions of a conflict of interest in relation to her influence over the National Prosecuting Authority to prosecute those accused of VBS-related corruption, which has the potential to undermine public confidence in the justice system. The Minister assured committee members that she will make sure that the conflict of interest does not arise. She pointed out that the Minister does not decide who to prosecute and not to prosecute.

Mr Nqola said the committee has a responsibility to conduct “aggressive oversight” over VBS prosecutions. He highlighted that it is not illegal to enter into a loan contract with a juristic person, even if they are not a registered loan provider.

In closing, he said the committee will obtain a legal opinion from the Parliament Legal Services on whether the committee can have access to the loan agreement between the Minister and Gundo Wealth Solutions.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.

Human Resources managers from all ECOWAS institutions held a four-day hybrid working session from 27 August to 30 August 2024 at the ECOWAS Training Centre.

This meeting aimed to validate the Human Resources Procedures Manual with the effective participation of the ECOWAS Commission’s Legal Department and staff representatives from all institutions.

It should be remembered that the ECOWAS Staff Regulations were finalised and approved by the Council of Ministers in December 2021.

To ensure proper understanding and implementation, the Human Resources Procedures Manual was developed with the aim of providing an up-to-date and harmonised document for ECOWAS institutions, covering Human Resources processes and promoting uniform practices for the entire organisation.

The main objective of the working session was to thoroughly analyse the draft Procedures Manual. The involvement of staff representatives and the ECOWAS Commission’s Legal Department was crucial, as their participation contributed to a more balanced, effective and widely accepted set of procedures, ultimately benefiting both the organisation and its staff.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The Department of Political Affairs, Peace, and Security of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, in collaboration with the National Peace Council of Ghana, is holding an interactive training workshop with political actors and stakeholders in Ghana from 4 to 11 September 2024.

The workshop aims to create an opportunity for stakeholders to take cognizance of and appreciate the ECOWAS Constitutional Convergence Principles (as provided in the 2001 Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance) and other frameworks for transparent and peaceful conduct of elections. In addition, the engagement offers the opportunity to reiterate the commitments of ECOWAS and the National Peace Council to the processes of dialogue and mediation in resolving electoral disputes.

The workshop also aims to provide a platform for structured and multistakeholder dialogue between representatives of political parties, security agencies, the Electoral Commission (EC), and CSOs on issues relating to the organization and conduct of the forthcoming 7 December 2024 general elections. It offers the opportunity for attendees to acquire some practical techniques and skills for dialogue and mediation as important tools for managing electoral disputes and conflicts through group discussions, role-plays simulation exercises and plenary discussions.

Welcoming participants to the workshop, the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador (Dr) Abdel-Fatau Musah, represented by Mr. Ebenezer Asiedu, Head of Democracy and Good Governance, reaffirmed the commitment of ECOWAS to promoting dialogue as a critical tool for managing stakeholders’ expectations around electoral processes. In a Goodwill Message, the representative of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, Ms. Florence Mensah commended ECOWAS and the National Peace Council for the partnership and timeliness of the workshop, noting the readiness of the Electoral Commission to organize free, fair, peaceful, and inclusive elections. The Workshop was declared opened by Mr. George Amoh, Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council who expressed the gratitude of the National Peace Council to ECOWAS Commission for initiating this proactive and preventive activity to enhance the capacity of main stakeholders for free, fair, credible and transparent elections.

Participants include representatives from the National Peace Council, the Electoral Commission, political parties, security agencies, the Christian Council, the Office of the National Chief Imam, the National House of Chiefs, civil society organizations, including youth and women groups, and the media that play key roles in the prevention and mitigation of election-related disputes.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).