Women and girls living in the Dollo Ado refugee camp attend a basic literacy and numeracy skills class by Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). Photo: JRS Ethiopia
Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) is supporting a Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Ethiopia project to provide basic literacy and numeracy skills to 2,000 illiterate Somali refugee women and girls living in the Dollo Ado refugee camps through a 24-month Integrated Functional Adult Literacy (IFAL) program.
The program will incorporate knowledge and skills in areas such as parenting/childcare, nutrition, family planning, livelihood, HIV/AIDS, the environment, and basic hygiene practices.
Students, who will come from the Bokolomayo, Kobe and Melkadida refugee camps, will be provided with exercise books and school supplies. The program will offer basic subsistence assistance for students who are nursing mothers or pregnant, and daycare services for students with young children.
About 2,000 refugees and host community members who are nursing mothers or are pregnant will also receive psychosocial support as part of the program’s goal to improve the resilience of refugees deemed most vulnerable.
Upon completion of the program, 120 IFAL graduates will have access to JRS livelihood projects and will be provided seed money to start individual or group businesses.
JRS began working in Africa in the early 1980s, and one of its earliest operations was in Ethiopia, where it provided food, shelter and medical care to thousands of people displaced by war and famine in that country. Today, JRS Ethiopia has well-established projects that welcome refugees in both urban and camp settings. It provides them with services such as education, language training, income-generating activities, emergency relief, and psychosocial services.
The project at a glance:
Beneficiaries
4,700 individuals (4,000 refugees and 700 hosts), including Somali refugee women and youth between 15-50 years old who are not enrolled in primary education.
Budget: $231,445.89
Activities:
- Primary education and school feeding program
- Secondary education
- Digital literacy training, life skills
- Science education for girls
- Vocational training (basic solar and electrical installations, construction, auto mechanics and welding)
- Certification from Jesuit Worldwide Learning (English courses)
- Improved agricultural productivity and post-harvest management training for farmers
- Food for Work in drought-stricken areas
- Peacebuilding workshops and learning visits
- Improvement of school facilities (latrines, kitchen, roof, infirmary, multipurpose hall)
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