28 September, 2022 - The UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Beirut announced today the publishing of Resources Packs in Arabic for teachers. The packs aim to build and develop their capacities, in order to foster peace building and drive social cohesion in the Arab States within the context of SDG4. These resources, grouped under the project titled “Education is Peace”, will benefit Arab children and youth, particularly out-of-school, at-risk children in crisis-affected countries, as well as marginalized communities, by meeting their diverse educational and development needs.
The reference guides were developed in collaboration with experts from the Arab region, with the support and funding of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief). The resources include guides on general policy and strategy in the education sector in disaster and conflict areas, inclusive education, catch-up education and teaching in multi-grade classes, distance learning and education, as well as education on citizenship and common human values. To maximize the benefits of these resources, UNESCO organized training sessions for teachers and education practitioners, for a total of 30,000 beneficiaries.
More than 15 million children in the Arab region need assistance to ensure continuous learning, and the majority of these school-age children are at-risk of being out-of-school. “Children and youth living in difficult circumstances have diverse socio-economic conditions; their educational needs are diverse, and their challenges require innovative and personalized solutions. However, the current educational systems should make use of these resources to meet their psychological, social or academic needs”, said Fadi Yarak, UNESCO’s Senior Regional Advisor for Education in the Arab states.
“Access to learning opportunities during crises is lifesaving and life-sustaining. KSrelief, in partnership with UNESCO, works to ensure that inclusive and equitable quality education remains a priority in humanitarian response and recovery assistance for the students with disabilities, the elderly, migrants, refugees, internally displaced people, returnees, and host communities. Part of that work is in preparing a pack of resources produced for teachers that will meet their diverse education and development needs that compete with the requirements of crises in the Arab regions to build peace and to face hazards, mitigate their impacts, and build the educational system's resilience”, said Dr. Hana Omar, Director of Community Support of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief).