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By Ali Thienou, Communications & Advocacy Manager ECHO Pilot PP, Save the Children Mali July 2023
PRESS RELEASE: Through the past 3 years, with funding from the European Union (EU), we have delivered quality education, child protection and mental health support to 213,000 distressed children and parents in the central Sahel. This region is deeply affected by conflict, violence, climate change and poverty which have a wide range of negative consequences, including widespread closure of 8,300 schools and a record of 3.2 million refugees and internally displaced in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso .
Children are bearing the brunt of the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis which has a devastating impact on their lives and futures. Many children have witnessed horrific incidents and been forced to flee their homes with their families deprived of their basic rights including protection and education. Many of them develop severe mental health issues that can have lifelong impacts if left unaddressed.
The EU-funded Pilot Programmatic Partnership combines education, protection and psychosocial support, which are crucial lifesaving interventions. Part of this innovative and flexible approach is about providing an integrated rapid response in situations of acute emergency. This approach is called RIRE (Integrated Rapid Response for Children in its French acronym) and seeks to improve the protective environment, well-being, and learning of displaced children and host communities in close collaboration with key humanitarian actors.
This integrated response is vital for children in distress to heal, thrive and to develop their potential so they can fully participate in their families, communities and later on contribute to their country and economy.
Localisation is the means to a greater impact
This programme has demonstrated that moving capacity, resources, and ownership to national and local actors results in more timely, appropriate, and effective outcomes for children and their communities. Without the close collaboration of local partners, it would have been impossible to support these hard-to-reach children with the same efficiency and impact.
Extension of programme
In many ways, the programme has delivered impressive results despite the difficult and ever-changing context. Many of the children have undergone a significant improvement and have increased their thrive, comfort and educational level, an important contribution to ensuring that an entire generation is not lost to the severe crisis afflicting the central Sahel. This is why the EU is committed to fund a new four-year phase of the programme to strengthen approaches developed.
Together with 11 international and local partner organisations including Save The Children, the Pilot PP programme will be even better equipped to help and support distressed families in need in the region.
About the programme – ECHO Pilot Programmatic Partnership
Save the Children's Pilot Programmatic Partnership (PP) strengthens the wellbeing, learning and protection of vulnerable and crisis affected girls and boys in the central Sahel through an integrated regional approach to education in emergencies, child protection in emergencies and mental health and psychosocial support. The programme runs from 2020 to 2023 and is generously funded by EU through the European Union's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department (ECHO) with 12.1 million euros.
The programme has supported 277 formal schools in the three countries and opened 210 non-formal learning centres (SSAP/PAASU) for children outside the education system who were mobilised through rapid response and visits to IDP sites. The programme has experimented with other forms of learning through the Transitional Spaces. A total of 213,027 persons have benefited from the programme in its first phase (2020 – 2023): 157,728 children (81,980 girls and 75,748 boys) and 55.299 adults.
Second phase
In the second phase (2023 – 2027) the programme will target 120,899 direct beneficiaries over the first year by offering a response in education, child protection and MHPSS to 87,121 children (20,388 in Burkina Faso, 31,815 in Mali and 34,918 in Niger) and 33,778 parents, teachers, case managers, etc. The first year the budget will be 5.1 million EUR while the budget for the three other years will be negotiated with ECHO at a later stage.
About EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid
The EU – Member States and EU institutions collectively – is among the leading donors of humanitarian aid in the world. Relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity with people in need all around the world. It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural and human-induced disasters and crises. Through the European Commission's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department, the European Union helps millions of victims of conflict and disasters every year. With headquarters in Brussels and a global network of field offices, the EU assists the most vulnerable people on the basis of humanitarian needs. https://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en @eu_echo
CONTACTS For further enquiries please contact:
Jonas Fruensgaard Ariane Rosenbeck jofn@redbarnet.dk arro@redbarnet.dk