Happening Now: Education in Emergencies Intensive Course
In collaboration with the Jesuit Refugee Service/US (JRS), the Institute of International Affairs (IIHA) is currently co-hosting its five-day intensive course on Education in Emergencies (EiE). Humanitarian workers from around the world have gathered in Beirut to learn how to effectively craft and implement education projects from the emergency phase to post-conflict situations. The diversity of this year’s participants offers the opportunity to explore a more complex vision of education interventions across the globe.
On the first day, students engaged in sessions in the humanitarian architecture of education in emergencies. Rana Abdul Latif, the National Education Programme Coordinator from the UNESCO Regional Office, gave an informative lecture on the humanitarian and development nexus in building resilient national education systems in the context of Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.
Upcoming topics include EiE programming, cash transfer programmes for education, key issues in child protection and well-being, gender-based violence and the role of education, and improving the quality of education programs.
With more than 35.6 million children living in conflict-affected countries, and hundreds of thousands of families displaced by natural disasters and climate change-induced crises, the need for innovative and sustainable education in emergency programs is essential to our common goal of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all (SDG4). This requires a progressive professionalization of workers in the sector.
Co-directed by IIHA faculty Nadezhna Castellano, EiE specialist and Helen Hamlyn Education Fellow, and Gonzalo Sánchez-Terán, Deputy Humanitarian Programs Director, the course trains humanitarian EiE workers by strongly emphasizing protection and improving the quality of education in emergency and protracted settings. For people displaced by crisis and disaster, enhancing the quality of education is a vital aspect that IIHA and JRS will not allow to be forgotten.
Written by Samantha Slattery, Access to Education Graduate Assistant
About the IIHA
The Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) prepares current and future aid workers with the knowledge and skills needed to respond effectively in times of humanitarian crisis and disaster. Our courses are borne of an interdisciplinary curriculum that combines academic theory with the practical experience of seasoned humanitarian professionals. The IIHA also publishes on a wide range of humanitarian topics and regularly hosts a number of events in the New York area, including the annual Humanitarian Blockchain Summit and Design for Humanity Summit.
For media inquiries, please contact: Camille Giacovas, Communications & Research Officer, IIHA cgiacovas@fordham.edu
