Education Cannot Wait Grants in Uganda

  • P Project/Program

? Activity Status: Unknown

Key Information

Itula Secondary School was founded by the local community in 1996, with support from Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), in response to the educational needs of refugees who were fleeing Sudan’s civil war. The local government assumed responsibility for the school in 2005 as many refugees began to return home once the conflict subsided. In 2017, a new wave of refugees from South Sudan began to arrive and the need for Itula to serve the local refugee population became ever more critical. Today, the school has 1,420 students – 1,179 of whom are refugees from South Sudan. Of these students, 42 percent are girls. What makes Itula special is the support it has received from the local community, dedicated teachers and administrators, and initiatives like Education Cannot Wait (ECW) that have invested in rehabilitating the school to accommodate the needs of students. In 2018, JRS implemented a grant from Education Cannot Wait to build new classrooms, dormitories for girls, accommodations for staff, gender-segregated latrines, and an incinerator for sanitary products. Some of these improvements help to address specific challenges faced by girls. These challenges include long distances to reach the closest school, and related safety concerns, and a lack of sanitary materials and sanitation facilities.


Lead Implementing Organization(s)

Location(s)

Sub-Saharan Africa

Uganda

Government Affiliation

Non-governmental program

Years

2018 -

Partner(s)

Jesuit Refugee Service USA

Ministry Affiliation

Unknown

Funder(s)

Australian Aid, Government of Bulgaria, European Union, Government of Ireland, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

COVID-19 Response

Not changed

Geographic Scope

National

Meets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES  

Unknown

Areas of Work Back to Top

Education areas

Other skills

  • Rights/empowerment education
  • Social and emotional learning

Quality

  • School facilities
  • School quality
  • School violence

Skills

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • Other academic performance-related

Cross-cutting areas

  • Community sensitization
  • Emergencies and protracted crises
  • Gender equality
  • Menstrual hygiene management
  • Mentorship
  • Other cultural practices
  • Violence (at home, in relationships)
  • WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene)

Program participants

Target Audience(s)

Boys (both in school and out of school), Girls (both in school and out of school), Youth

Age

Not applicable or unknown

School Enrolment Status

Some in school

School Level

  • Lower secondary
  • Upper secondary

Other populations reached

  • Other community members - female
  • Other community members - male

Participants include

  • Displaced/refugee - External (from other countries)

Program Approaches Back to Top

Access to school

  • Improving transportation

Facilities construction/improvement

  • Construction/improvement of classrooms
  • Construction/improvement of schools

Life skills education

  • Gender, rights and power

Menstrual hygiene management

  • Sanitary product distribution

School-related gender-based violence

  • Safe and welcoming schools

Social/gender norms change

  • Group activities with students or school-age children/adolescents

Water and sanitation

  • Construction/improvement of sex-specific toilets

Women's empowerment programs

  • Empowerment training

Program Goals Back to Top

Education goals

  • Improved social and emotional learning/skills and mindsets
  • Increased re-enrolment in school among out-of-school children
  • Increased school completion (general)
  • Increased school enrolment (general)
  • Increased years of schooling
  • Reduced absenteeism

Cross-cutting goals

  • Improved health - other
  • Improved mental health
  • Increased agency and empowerment
  • More equitable gender attitudes and norms