Education Cannot Wait- Multi-Year Resilience Programme 2022-2024

Improving Access to inclusive and equitable quality education for refugees, crisis-affected and otherwise vulnerable children and adolescents This funding will support a Multi-Year Resilience Programme (MYRP) delivered in partnership with the Government of Pakistan and consortia led by UNICEF, Voluntary Service Overseas, and the Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN).

The Education Cannot Wait (ECW)-funded MYRP will ensure improved access to quality education for the most vulnerable out-of-school girls and boys, including Afghan refugees. In providing “whole-of-child” solutions, the funding will ensure that target beneficiaries have access to protective interventions that improve both their mental and physical well-being. The programme will also improve learning environments by ensuring safety and inclusivity for all learners, building capacity by working with the national and provincial education authorities to make education systems more resilient, and will work to address the significant barriers girls face in accessing quality and inclusive learning environments.

Under this project, RSPN in partnership with BRSP will reach 42,420 children and adolescents in three districts (Khuzdar, Pishin, and Killa Abdullah/Chaman) of Balochistan through Formal and Non-Formal Education. The project targets the most vulnerable population among which 60% of beneficiaries are girls,20% are afghan refugees, and 12% are children with disabilities.

RSPN and BRSP with the support of community institutions will identify and register three to five-year-old children for pre-primary or Early Childhood Education (ECE) and 05- 16 years-old out-of-school children for enrollment in the Primary and Secondary Education system. RSPN and BRSP will also identify 100 young girls to provide employable vocational skills. RSPN will mobilise and facilitate more than 11,220 school children to participate in Life Skills sessions to address bullying and others issues of exclusion.

RSPN and BRSP will re-activate and strengthen the 1,122 PTAs/PTCs and their community engagement to make schools more resilient and supportive for learners. Additionally, RSPN will also provide safe transportation support and cash-based assistance to 2,600 young girls who cannot access schools or learning spaces. Furthermore, RSPN and BRSP will engage 300 Community Resource Persons (CRPs) to raise awareness on MHM & Importance of Education at the community level. While female project staff will engage 2,700 young girls and adolescents in 400 schools for MHM awareness and provision of menstrual health and hygiene products that keep them safe and comfortable in school and at home, helping them enroll and remain in learning. RSPN and BRSP will support the school, district, and provincial level Education Department to ensure strategies are in place to keep girls and boys safe, to ensure they have access to MHPSS services, and to maintain their access to learning during emergencies