GEC Support to Burkina Faso in 2020

The Education Cluster, co-led by the Ministry of Education with support from UNICEF, was activated in Burkina Faso in 2020 following the worsening of the humanitarian needs and increased insecurity with major consequences for education, which resulted in the closure of 2,512 schools in March and disrupting learning for 349,909 students. The COVID-19 pandemic compounded existing challenges, leading to the suspension of schooling across 20,754 establishments at the onset of the pandemic, affecting 5.1 million students. The GEC utilized its diverse portfolio of core support to assist the Burkina Faso Education Cluster coordinate and deliver a robust response to meet the complex needs of crisis affected children and youth.

In light of these enormous challenges, the Global Education Cluster utilized its diverse portfolio of core support made available through ECW funding to assist the Burkina Faso Education Cluster coordinate and deliver a robust response to meet the complex needs of crisis affected children and youth.

Specifically, the GEC provided dedicated information management remote support for data analysis and visualization through the Rapid Response Team to inform evidenced based decision making. Additionally, the GEC supported the Burkina Faso Education Cluster with the ECW supported Multi-Year Resilience Programme by providing coordination support through the Rapid Response Team and using the new Standard Operating Procedure developed by the GEC.

A virtual Core Coordination Skills training was organized equipping 22 cluster members and partners with the skillset to coordinate an effective, efficient, and strong education in emergencies response. Further a Needs Assessment Coaching Programme was remotely delivered to reinforce cluster capacity to design, coordinate and lead a joint needs assessment; upon conclusion of the programme, the team successfully completed a Joint Education Needs Assessment to inform the overall response. The JENA also included a child participatory component whereby 12 enumerators were trained on child participatory methods and 302 children (151 girls + 151 boys) aged 9-15 participated in focus group discussions on their educational needs.

Finally, the GEC continued to advocate for prioritization of education in emergencies in Burkina Faso by spotlighting the significant challenges and needs during the final instalment of the Elevating Education in Emergencies series, which gathered more than 220 participants representing a global audience of Member States, UN Agencies and Civil Society Organizations.