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UNFPA Distance Learning Course Development
(2009 - 2010)
World Education, Inc. is developing a distance education course for the UNFPA's tutor-assisted and self-paced learning program, Distance Learning on Population Issues. This course, Emergency Preparedness, Humanitarian Response, and Recovery, addresses UNFPA's unique mandate to provide services in reproductive health and population data management in the context of emergency situations. UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) staff worldwide will be able to use course materials to enhance their ability to understand and implement reproductive health services in a humanitarian relief situation.
The course uses an approach that applies principles of adult education and is relevant to the many different environments in which learners work. Scenarios, case studies, and key facts are contextualized so that learners can actively engage with course content at a level appropriate to their role and geographic location.
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Cambodian Living Arts
(2008 - 2011)
Approximately ninety percent of Cambodia's performing artists died during the Khmer Rouge regime, a devastating blow to Cambodia's arts and traditions. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, this cultural tragedy was compounded by two subsequent decades of economic hardship, when very few of the surviving master musicians could make a living performing or teaching.
Cambodian Living Arts (CLA)-- formerly known as the Cambodian Master Performers Project (CMPP) -- was founded in 2000 by Arn Chorn-Pond, a Cambodian-American refugee who was featured in the Emmy-nominated movie, The Flute Player.
A project of World Education from 2001 - 2009, CLA worked to revive the traditional arts of Cambodia by pairing master teachers who survived the Khmer Rouge regime with young artists, thereby not only preserving the cultural heritage of Cambodia but also providing economic opportunities for artists.
CLA worked towards the vision that Cambodia in the year 2020 will be a country experiencing a cultural renaissance so dynamic that the arts have become Cambodia's international signature. Khmer arts will have become a wellspring of Cambodian strength and resiliency, and a vital source of healing and reconciliation.
In September of 2009, the Cambodian Living Arts Project was transferred to the Marion Institute, where it continues this work.
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Capacity Building Services to Local and International NGOs in Cambodia
Cambodia's human resources were decimated during the brutal reign of the Khmer Rouge in the late 70s, and in the following decade of civil unrest and war. Local civil society institutions did not begin to emerge until the early 1990s, after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. Given this recent history, a great need exists for programs in human resource development and skills training for staff of local civil society organizations. World Education responds to this need by providing participatory training of trainers programs in a variety of technical sectors, applying the latest in adult education teaching methods and practices to programmatic and organizational challenges in health education, sustainable agriculture, human rights work, community development, and project and organizational management. Over the last five years we have worked with staff of a wide range of Cambodian government agencies, Cambodian and international NGOs (AICF/USA, Khemera, Church World Service, Cambodian Red Cross, Caritas, CHED, CEMP, ADRA, Enfants du Cambodge, etc.) and international organizations such as UNICEF, UNDP, WHO, ILO, FAO, and UNFPA.
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Community Radio Network
Following on the creation of six community radios in the Casamance built and managed by World Education and financed by individual donors, the Community Radio Network aims to both increase the number of radio stations in the network to ten and to support the network to become a central vehicle for coordinated operations, social and economic development and the promotion of peace in the Casamance.
Through this project, World Education is providing development support for the nascent Radio Network, support and technical assistance to each of the radios, helping to maintain and strengthen the current radio content focus on women and women's rights, and helping with the sustainability of the radios within the network.
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Creating Opportunities for Psychosocial Enhancement (COPE)
( - 2010)
The political instability, unrest, violence, and socio-economic problems in Burma have driven tens of thousands of people away from their homeland. Since the early 1980's and until now Burmese, Karen, and other ethnic minorities have been fleeing their homes for refugee camps in increasing numbers. Human rights abuses have been well documented, including execution of those who do not comply with the demands of the soldiers, forced labor, rape, and denial of the right to education. The trauma of active conflict -- and the resulting loss of life, family disruption, loss of land and livelihood -- has compounded this. As a consequence, children and youth have been witnesses and/or participants in traumatic events including violence and sometimes the death of their loved ones. Many youth have lost their homes, belongings, and are separated from families. They live in constant fear of further forced displacement. The children's education has often been disrupted. They often remain silent, absorbing and reflecting the fear and anger of their parents, siblings, and community members -- but more often they do not have a way to share their personal painful experiences. If they try to express their fear and concerns, they are often not listened to or are not given the needed support.
The COPE project increases the awareness of Karen educators and leaders concerning psychosocial issues and how they affect children in schools. In addition it enhances the education system to provide a "psychosocial sensitive" environment within its schools by developing the capacity of trainers, educators and support systems to address the psychosocial needs of children and youth; developing a training of trainers curriculum; and designing a curriculum integrated into a Social Studies / Living Values curriculum for primary and secondary schools of the Karen education system in the refugee camps. The success of the program lies with the close collaboration between World Education and the Karen Education Department and the other NGOs that are working in education with the refugee and migrant population.
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Promoting Peace Education in the Casamance
After 10 years of civil conflict in the southern Casamance region of Senegal, a fragile stability has developed in a community that is ready to embrace peace. Communities that were once separated from each other and tied up in a violent conflict are again coming together to rebuild their villages, region and society. An important step in the rebuilding process occurs in schools where students in the Casamance have a need to better understand how to resolve conflicts and get along with one another in an atmosphere of openness and nonviolence.
The Peace Education program aims to teach peaceful means of cooperation, conflict resolution, and reconciliation to local primary school students and teachers while peace activities are organized within the larger community. Over a year and a half, World Education, funded by USAID, is creating a Peace Education course to be taught to students and faculty in 40 schools throughout the Casamance. In addition to the course, members of the local community will join with participating students and teachers in forming community-based peace committees that will plan and oversee various peace-related activities. The goal of this project is to introduce peaceful means of communication to members of the Casamance community, with an important focus on youth, as the area moves out of conflict and begins rebuilding.
Learn about World Education's previous peace education work in the report: Building Peace and Prosperity in the Casamance
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Rehabilitation of Children/Youth Affected by Armed Conflict
World Education has facilitated the reintegration and rehabilitation of children/youth formerly associated with armed forces & armed groups (CAAFAG) and children affected by armed conflict (CAAC) as per the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2006. World Education has also monitored the management of arms and armies with support from the US Department of Labor and UNICEF. Since November 2007, World Education has identified over 1200 CAAFAG in eight districts, of which around 1,000 CAAFAG and another 450 vulnerable children have received or are receiving educational support to attend formal school, vocational training, and economic literacy support to start their own business initiatives. In addition, over 50 community-based groups and 10,000 community members have received orientations on social reintegration and support. Other services include food support, psychosocial counseling, formal community sensitizations and strengthened district and local-level child protection systems.
In this final phase, World Education will facilitate the provision of continued educational support to self-released CAAFAG and CAAC who need additional support to continue schooling, provide practical vocational support and/or income generation support for CAAFAG families.
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Resunga Mahila Project
In rural Nepal, women do not have access to credit from banks. If they borrow money from village moneylenders, they are forced to pay back the loan at unreasonably high interest rates. It is rare to hear of female community members saving money and investing those savings into livelihoods improvement because there is no mechanism for them to do so at the local level, especially in remote areas where there is little access to local markets and services.
In Nepal, "green roads" use environmentally friendly, labor-intensive construction techniques to build roads that link isolated, rural village development committees (VDCs) with district centers. In hill districts, green roads have been promoted for the development of secondary road systems to improve access to markets and services for remote VDCs. Green roads bring immediate economic benefits to communities along the road corridor. A skeletal network of "green roads" is being developed in Gulmi and Arghakhanchi Districts that will link the district centers to more remote VDCs. As part of this initiative, expansion of microfinance and economic education will be implemented to ensure that these new routes bring economic benefit to the families that surround them.
To take advantage of those benefits, World Education is working with its NGO partners in Gulmi and Arghakhanchi to reach older women with little or no literacy skills, while at the same time providing opportunities for women with limited formal education to receive relevant nonformal education. By using the Women's Economic Empowerment and Literacy (WEEL) package along the "green roads" corridors, women will increase their literacy skills, and especially their math skills, so that they are better prepared to participate in savings and credit groups and gain knowledge and skills for improving their livelihoods.
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Support to Health, Institution Building, Education and Leadership in Policy Dialogue (SHIELD)
Approximately 130,000 refugees from Burma live in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, and well over 400,000 live unofficially in Thai communities along the border. Some of the refugees have lived along the border for a decade or more, and have seen whole generations of children grow in the camp environment. The refugees wish to educate their children in the camp setting, so that some day they may return to Burma and actively partake in its transformation. Unfortunately, their resources for education activities are extremely limited.
World Education, working with the International Rescue Committee and funded by a grant from USAID, initiates projects to increase access to and quality of education for Burmese refugees and migrants in Thailand. World Education trains refugee teachers and school administrators, and works on curriculum development, special education, adult literacy, and materials development and production. To assist refugees and displaced people living outside of the refugee camps in Thai villages, and to the Thai villagers who host them, World Education also provides targeted education support to several Thai communities along the Thai-Burma border. All work is carried out in cooperation with other NGOs working along the border to ensure sustainability and effectiveness of the training efforts, and to create a sustainable education system that can be quickly adapted when the refugees return to Burma.
Read more in the World Ed Feature Stories: Training Refugee Teachers on the Thai-Burma Border.
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Providing Special Education to Burmese Refugees
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Walaikum Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation
Northern Mali has a long history of ethnic and armed conflict which continue to this day. Some of these conflicts are fueled by instability. Others are a product of decades of governmental neglect, social inequalities, ethnic tension, and competition for scarce resources. Social conditions also contribute to the north's fragile status.
Walaikum is a 2-year, USAID-funded project developed to address both active and nascent conflict in northern Mali. Walaikum is an Arabic phrase, meaning "and unto you," typically the response to the greeting "peace be unto you." Through Walaikum, World Education will use a multi-pronged, integrated, people-to-people approach to mobilize key segments of the population to collaborate together on common objectives.
The primary goal of Walaikum is to create a sustainable network of agents of peace who will influence the behaviors of key actors in northern Mali to promote and choose peace. The four main actors are women and women's associations, youth and youth associations, religious, cultural and spiritual leaders, and community radios. Through Walaikum, mothers, sisters, wives and grandmothers will be empowered through women's associations to be lobbyists for peace. Youth, especially young men, are often enticed into conflict due to lack of opportunity, failure to see the value of peace, and the financial gains that accrue by being part of rebel groups. Walaikum will also work alongside community and religious leaders and involve them as active agents for peace. Finally, community radios will be engaged to offer air time for peace messages and to actively promote peace messages and discussions through their programs.
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