UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund

Published purpose

P006358001: The project aims to improve learning for pre-primary, primary-aged and out-of-school girls and boys in the Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh through gender equitable quality education. Cox’s Bazar is one of Bangladesh’s poorest and most vulnerable districts, with poverty well above the country’s national average. The influx of over 740,000 Rohingya refugees since August 2017 has increased economic tensions and competition for scarce resources, including for jobs and income, among the Rohingya and the local communities, as well as having a serious impact on local infrastructure and services. This situation is particularly difficult for women and children who are the most vulnerable. The project aims to: (1) work to make schools safer for children, while improving gender sensitivity in teaching; (2) improve learning assessment practices; (3) strengthen school leadership while helping to make leaders more gender-sensitive; (4) provide a comprehensive gender-sensitive school effectiveness package; (5) contribute to gender-equitable quality education for 102,000 children (54,000 girls); and (6) build the capacity of teachers, school leaders and community members in the host communities of Cox’s Bazar. Project activities include : (1) providing professional development packages for teachers covering topics such as lesson planning, class management, and age and gender-sensitive teaching practices; (2) providing learning supplies to 120,000 girls and boys in host communities; (3) developing and supporting the implementation of school-level improvement plans, including school grants, to make schools more friendly to girls and to children with disabilities; (4) supporting the development of disaster management plans and standard operating procedures in schools; (5) increasing the capacity of communities to support inclusive education through Parent Teachers Associations, with an emphasis on the importance of girls’ education; and (6) developing and implementing a gender-sensitive capacity building plan for district leaders and school leaders. P006358002: This component of a larger project contributes additional funding to help to mitigate the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, as nationwide school closures have interrupted education for more than 39.9 million children in Bangladesh since March 16, 2020. This project aims to improve learning for pre-primary, primary-aged and out-of-school girls and boys in the Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh through gender-equitable quality education. The additional funds support the safe reopening of more than 657 primary schools and 800 Learning Centers (LC), allowing over 376,271 children (50% of which are girls) in Cox’s Bazar district, including 64,000 Rohingya refugee children and 312,271 Bangladeshi children from the host community to continue their education. Activities for this component include: (1) undertaking schools and LCs’ rehabilitation and disinfection and restocking them of learning and sanitation supplies to ensure children’s return to safe and protective learning environments; (2) strengthening partners’ engagement to ensure children’s protection in their learning environments and access to psychosocial services through School and Learning Management Committee and other referral services; and (3) providing support to School and Learning Management Committee to ensure an adequate number of teachers are available, especially in the Rohingya refugee camps.