Somalia boosted with Sh646 million grant for education

Somalia has received a grant worth 5 million dollars (Ksh 646 million) to help the country's children and adolescents access quality education.

The Education Cannot Wait (ECW) grant from the Norwegian Refugee Council will help students resume their studies and lay down frameworks to avert similar situations.

Via its X platform, ECW said the grant will be distributed in two phases within 18 months with the help of local and international partners. In its estimates, the investment will cater to 33,000 children during the first phase. In the second phase, the organisation will pilot a new anticipatory action framework for humanitarian response in Somalia if specific triggers are met.

"The grant will provide access to education for girls and boys, enhance preparedness, and create an anticipatory action framework ahead of future climate hazards," ECW posted.

Somalia is currently facing a climate crisis, and its education system was disrupted last year after El Nino rains caused floods across many parts of the nation.

According to ECW, more than 2.5 million people were affected. Out of this, 900,000 were school-going children. The floods also affected about 220 schools, where learning materials were destroyed and swept away in the rain.

Residents wade through flooded water in the past in Somalia. (Photo: Courtesy)

The body indicated that the heavy rains experienced in April significantly worsened the situation, increasing the number of affected students in Somalia to over 3 million.

"The rainy season's heavy 'Gu rains' made matters even worse, with an additional 81,000 people displaced and several reports of damaged schools. Even before the floods, well over 3 million girls and boys were out of school in Somalia," ECW notes.

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif added that the climate crisis in the country is taking a toll on its children. Yasmine urged relevant stakeholders to act now to ensure the students are protected and offered quality education.

"We must ensure girls and boys in the world's most forgotten crises are guaranteed their human rights and dignity through the transformational power of education," she said.

To deliver on the promises outlined in the Paris Agreement, Grand Bargain Agreement, and Sustainable Development Goals, more than a quarter of the investment is allocated towards climate mitigation and adaptation, and almost half of the funding will be delivered by local organisations.

ECW is an international organisation that funds education emergencies. It mainly helps refugees, internally displaced people, and those in crisis. The organisation has spent over 40 million dollars (Ksh 5.1 billion) inclusive of the latest grant and has reached about a quarter of a million children.