The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Qatar-based Education Above All (EAA) have signed an agreement to formalize joint efforts to support and improve access to quality basic education in Haiti.
The partners working through the Educate a Child (EAC) program are specifically targeting out-of-school children and at-risk students.
“This project represents a remarkable milestone in our partnership with Education Above All, an important platform for empowering children and families in Haiti.
“It is reflective of our commitment to protecting the right of children to access quality basic education, as well to forging collaborations that tap the expertise, resources, and innovation of critical partners like EEA,” said IDB President Mauricio-Claver Carone.
The IDB said a contribution of US$2.95 million from EAC would finance tuition waivers that expand access to primary school and will help retain and newly enroll 12,000 out-of-school children over the next two years.
The partners are placing special emphasis on reaching the southern part of Haiti, which was most heavily affected by the August 2021 earthquake. The project will be executed by the Ministry of Education and Professional Development of Haiti through the Unité de Coordination de Projet.
The collaboration also features a climate resilience education initiative to promote civism through practice, involving schools and communities in environmental protection activities that are particularly crucial for Haiti, considering its propensity to extreme weather events. The contribution will also complement a US$50 million IDB loan targeting the northern part of the country.
The IDB said this partnership is made possible through a framework agreement that was previously signed by IDB and EEA, in which both organizations confirmed their commitment to accelerate the enrollment and retention of out-of-school children and at-risk students in quality primary education in Latin America and the Caribbean.
These joint efforts are also framed within the priorities established by Vision 2025: Reinvest in the Americas, the IDB’s blueprint for driving recovery, economic growth, and social progress in the region.
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