The Challenge of Education

Humanitarian Response | Jordan | Save the Children Child Protection Since the beginning of the response Save the Children has prioritized support to child protection- through the establishment of Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) in the camps and in urban areas. We have set-up numerous safe areas for Syrian children to meet, play, and talk through their experiences as well as Youth Friendly Spaces (YFS) in Zaatari camp. Save the Children is supporting distressed children who need special care after experiencing extreme levels of violence in Syria. Education Our programs help Syrian children who have missed out on education due to the situation in Syria, as well as early childhood educational support. Basic Education (6-14 years old): enhance a physical learning environment as well as education infrastructure. Informal Education (12-24 years old): provide informal education programs to adolescents and youth, with special focus on those who dropped out of school and cannot be reintegrated in formal education. Food, Security and Livelihoods

Camp for Syrian refugees starts to look more like home At the new Safeway store in the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan, the Syrian cashiers wear bright blue tabards that read "here to help you". Buying groceries at this supermarket is giving refugees here a taste of normal life. Families push shiny new shopping trolleys as they walk up and down aisles stacked high with food. "We opened in January and offer a special service for the refugees," says Nahed al-Abed, Safeway's operations manager in Jordan. There is no need for cash. "Syrians are among the gourmets of the region and like a diverse, sophisticated diet that we can't provide through regular food distribution," says the WFP's Jonathan Campbell. "Giving them the vouchers gives a sense of normality and allows them to make choices. Um Adham has just returned from the supermarket to her cabin, off the main road through the refugee camp, jokingly referred to as "the Champs Elysees". "At first it was a life of hell. "Now we have choices at the supermarket. Call for intervention

Q+A: How we're protecting Syrian refugee kids | Mercy Corps At the child-friendly spaces we've built in Jordan's Zaatari refugee camp, Syrian kids enjoy guided activities like storytelling, crafts and games. Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Playgrounds and shared spaces in the camps help create a support system for both kids and parents. Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps Boys write and draw in their Comfort for Kids workbooks. The program in Lebanon gives kids, many of whom are no longer in school, the opportunity to express themselves and process trauma. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps The Moving Forward activities we're leading with children in Lebanon help build team work and self-esteem. Children who have escaped Syria still carry the emotional scars of war, and now face new struggles as refugees. Here, she tells us what their life is like and what Mercy Corps is doing to keep them safe, now and in the future. Q: What did children experience in Syria? For many children, the sound of bombs and gunfire continues to haunt them.

Meet the Malala of Syria Muzoon Almellehan is trying to convince parents to let their girls stay in school rather than marrying them off as child brides. Fifty miles from the border with Syria, 16-year-old Muzoon Almellehan treads the dusty paths to her school, a sprawl of mural-covered buildings surrounded by chain link fence in the desert expanse of Jordan’s Azraq refugee camp. The 11th-grader is currently furious because two young classmates in her science program have dropped out to get married. Now only five girls are left. In her community of war survivors, Muzoon has been dubbed the Malala of Syria. Muzoon arrived to Jordan among a huge influx of fleeing Syrians in 2013, not long after fighting in their hometown of Daraa shut down the schools. “A lot of them thought education for a girl was unimportant,” Muzoon says. Child marriage wasn’t something she saw commonly at home in Syria, but in the camps it seemed rampant. “Lots people were listening [to me], even fathers,” she recalls. Thank You!

Jordan - Students promote learning in Za'atari Camp, Jordan By Toby Fricker The school year is starting, in Za’atari refugee camp, Jordan. Fourteen-year-old Mozoun is among 30 children on a mission to get their peers back to school. ZA’ATARI CAMP, Jordan, 12 September 2013 – A group of young girls are striding out of the school gates with a purpose. Mozoun, 14, is one of thirty 12- to 15-year-olds who are crossing the refugee camp, home to some 120,000 Syrians, to promote education to children and their parents. She comes across a mother and her children hanging up washing outside their caravan. “I love education, and I’m aware of the importance of it. Mozoun describes herself as an ambassador of education in the camp. Support from prominent figures With about 30,000 children of school-going age in Za’atari, there’s a lot of ground to cover. At a tented mosque, Abu Omar, one of the camp’s imams, spreads the word about the value of education. In times of crisis, attending school provides safety and respite. Targeting out-of-school children

After winter break and heavy rains, back to school at Za’atari refugee camp, Jordan | UNICEF:Learning for Peace By Toby Fricker ZA’ATARI, Jordan, 28 February – It’s back to school for thousands of Syrian children at Za’atari refugee camp in northern Jordan. “I am more than happy to return to school and study. After a one-month winter break, class is in session again in Za’atari refugee camp, Jordan, bringing a sense of normality to Syrian refugee children. School closed for break, open for shelter The school at the Za’atari refugee camp was closed for three weeks following heavy rains that flooded some of the refugee shelter areas. ©UNICEF VideoAccording to UNICEF Jordan Representative Dominique Hyde, back-to-school day is the beginning of hope for many parents who see education as the only future for their children right now. Luckily, this disruption took place at the same time as the winter school break. Back to school celebrated At the start of the school term, a delegation from the European Union, one of the school’s largest funders, visited the reopening of the school. Second school being built

Education for refugees can help save Syria's lost generation With the world’s focus firmly on the European response to the refugee crisis in recent weeks, attention has been diverted away from the humanitarian needs of the Middle East itself. Only a minority of refugees have fled to Europe, with the majority of Syrians travelling across neighbouring borders to Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. These movements of people have placed considerable pressure on already stretched public services, and children – one of the most vulnerable groups – are being severely affected. Hundreds of thousands of them are at risk of becoming ill, malnourished, abused and exploited – and for the vast majority, they have no access to education. A significant proportion of the 13m children reported by UNICEF as deprived of an education in the Middle East, are from Syria. Limited access The humanitarian needs of the region are complex. Most recently the UN World Food Programme has had to cut food rations substantially for populations in all refugee hosting countries.

Refugees Daily Syrian refugees find normalcy in football Publisher: Al Jazeera EnglishStory date: 29/06/2014Language: English Amman, Jordan – "Maybe you've heard about landmines, small bombs. These are very dangerous," Saleh Shloon, a football coach, said as he stood before a few dozen girls at a school in Kitim, a village in northern Jordan. He held up a series of posters, at times struggling to unfurl them, with pictures of mines in different shapes and colours. Some girls watched Shloon. Others' eyes wandered towards the clear blue sky or the concrete walls of their school. They had just finished 10 minutes of football drills with Shloon and other coaches on a battered concrete pitch where two netless basketball hoops with backboards of cracked wood stood like dead trees. An hour of football with trained local coaches, "hopefully ... sparks a relationship of trust and respect between the coach and the young players, and then they'll sit and focus" on mines, Lee added.

Art with Syrian Refugees: The Za’atari Project | Joel Bergner Artista Za’atari Syrian Refugee Camp in Jordan, 2013. This piece was created in collaboration with Syrian refugee children, and explores the importance of water conservation, especially for those who suddenly find themselves stranded in a desert. Project partners: AptART, ACTED, UNICEF. Za’atari refugee camp (photo by Max Frieder) As the Syrian War rages on, desperate civilians continue to pour across the borders into neighboring countries. Since it opened only a year ago, the Za’atari Camp in northern Jordan has quickly become the world’s second-largest refugee camp with 100,000 residents. Za’atari Syrian Refugee Camp in Jordan, 2013. While basic needs are being met by the long list of international organizations in the camp, there are few structured activities and educational programs for the youth to engage in. The Za’atari Project features workshops with refugee children that focus on art and educational topics. Hygiene, sanitation and art workshop Refugee camp swimming pool! Abstract art!