Creative Community Impact through schools
PCI supports CHILD by Liberia
December 3, 2011, 11:49AMPCI, the US non-profit, has just funded a special event in Liberia using CHILD Trust facilitation. Part of the USAID LAUNCH programme, the training involved 20 local education sector workers, including District Education Officers, PTA members and PCI staff. Together they designed "CHILD Liberia".
CHILD goes to Tanzania
October 2, 2011, 6:21PMThe CHILD Trust has just facilitated a brand new training programme on the shores of Lake Victoria for PCI Tanzania. Together with local schools we co-designed CHILD-for-Tanzania as an exciting new chapter in PCI's school feeding project.
Amsterdam to Cape Town with CHILD
May 30, 2011, 1:13PMTwo budding adventurers from McKinsey are attempting to drive all the way from Amsterdam to Cape Town in 3 months. On the way they will be visiting CHILD Ethiopia and sharing their experiences on their blog 90daysand90nights.org
CHILD Trust App for iPhone and iPad
May 22, 2011, 10:32PMThe official CHILD Trust App for iOS is now available as a free download in the App Store. It provides instant access to all the latest CHILD news, reports and resources directly on you iPhone or iPad.
CHILD Trustees help design school feeding training
April 30, 2011, 11:07PMThe CHILD Trust is delighted that two of our trustees, Joseph and Justin, are working for 3 months with the World Food Programme. They will lead the design of a new training package for school feeding programmes around the world and relish the chance to live-out the values of the CHILD Trust.
Latest progress reports online
April 6, 2011, 1:46PMProgress reports for CHILD Ethiopia and the 7 schools they work with are now online under the Reports section of the website. They include amazing stories such as the provision of special tutorials and counselling to help support girls.
Craig runs the Fleet Half Marathon for The CHILD Trust
March 12, 2011, 12:57PMCraig Hicks is taking on the challenge of running the Fleet Half Marathon and is raising money for the CHILD Trust. You can support Craig's brilliant effort through JustGiving. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and secure.
One Amazing Birthday
December 5, 2010, 6:06PMDemonstrating what creativity can achieve, our Trustee, Justin, raised an amazing £3,258 by organising a virtual party on the social network site, Facebook. Justin collected contributions from his friends on four continents and topped these up with a big-hearted gift of his own. A party to remember!
Berkele School Raise £965
July 22, 2010, 10:36PMBerkele PTA recently organised a community bazaar to raise money for school improvements. They were motivated after a training organised by CHILD Ethiopia. The response was overwhelming and as a result they raised £965!
CHILD Ethiopia organise a CHILD training in Chancho
July 8, 2010, 6:48PMOur friends at CHILD Ethiopia have trained 39 new experts in the CHILD planning process, which you can read more about in their full report.
The CHILD Trust receives charitable status
June 2, 2010, 2:41PMThe CHILD Trust has today been recognised as a charity by the regulator, the Charity Commission of England and Wales. Our registration number is 1136141. We are delighted at this news, which opens up new doors of opportunity for us to support the creative potential of individuals around the world.
No Joking Matter
April 1, 2010, 12:00PM1 April is traditionally the day for April Fools jokes. But this April we have some really great news that is true. CHILD Ethiopia is one of the first organisations to gain the new registration required by CSOs in Ethiopia. Congratulations to Yemi and the team for all their efforts!
Winners of 10K challenge iPod
January 27, 2010, 9:50AMThe winners of the CHILD 10K challenge have been revealed. Everybody that donated during July 2009 was entered in the prize darw once for each £10 the gave, or for each new donor they introduced to CHILD. The winners are: First Prize (CHILD iPod): Sue and Leslie Morrison Two runners-up (CHILD Book): Helen Hall, Iain and Suzanne McConaghy Congratulations to our winners and thanks to all our supporters!
Annual Report 2009 Published
November 20, 2009, 11:57AMThe CHILD Trust 2009 Trustees' Annual Report is now available from the 'Projects' page of child-online.com under 'CHILD Trust'. Alternatively you can access the report here.
CHILD Shortlisted for D2Development Award
November 18, 2009, 4:45PMThe CHILD Trust has just been shortlisted by the D2Development Fund Committee for their 2009 awards. The winner of the €3000 award is expected to be made by December 5. If CHILD wins then we will present our project at the DESTIN alumni event on December 10. To learn more about D2Development please visit www.d2development.org. - UPDATE 8 DECEMBER 2009 - The CHILD Trust proposal was voted as a runner-up for the 2009 Award. Our congratulations go to this year's winners.
World Poverty Day and Opportunity Collaboration
October 16, 2009, 2:29PMSaturday 17 October is World Poverty Day. Starting from Saturday, Joe will be reporting from Opportunity Collaboration, a major event in Mexico for Social Entrepreneurs who are working to overcome poverty. The CHILD approach will be presented to the conference on Sunday 18 October. You can read Joe's reports through the 'Projects' link on the child-online.com website.
CHILD to be presented at Opportunity Collaboration
September 21, 2009, 5:26PMOpportunity Collaboration, a major event held in Mexico to bring together social entrepreneurs and philanthropists, has provided a fellowship worth around £3,000 to the CHILD Trust. This will provide an excllent chance to present the idea of the Trust and hopefully mobilise more support. Opportunity Collaboration will run from 17-21 October.
Visit to Addis Ababa
September 21, 2009, 5:22PMDuring August two Trustees, Rosie and Joe, from the CHILD Trust visited Addis Ababa to meet with the Director, Yemi, and Board of CHILD Ethiopia. We discussed the nature of the relationship between the two organisations. This resulted in a draft of the 'Addis Ababa Accords' - a document that outlines how we will work to together as equal partners. We also developed a joint work plan for September 2009 - Septemeber 2010. This is now with our respective boards for ratification. More soon.
CHILD Book Listed by Amazon.com
May 29, 2009, 4:52PMThe CHILD Book, Through the eyes of children: the struggle for changes has now been listed by Amazon. However, it is still free to download electronically as part of the CHILD Trust's commitment to spreading the word about CHILD.
Win an iPod Shuffle!
May 28, 2009, 4:55PMEvery time you, or a person who you introduce to CHILD, donates to the CHILD Trust during June we will enter your name into a competition to win an exclusive CHILD edition of the Apple (Product)RED iPod Shuffle 1GB. There are also two runners up prizes or free copies of the CHILD book.
The CHILD Trust Launch the 10K Campaign
May 16, 2009, 8:11PMThe CHILD Trust and CHILD Ethiopia are attempting to raise £10,000 ($15,000) by July to get 5 schools up and running with the CHILD approach. These will serve as a launch pad for CHILD Ethiopia to assist as many of Ethiopia's 20,000+ primary schools in the coming years.
CHILD Manuals Being Revised
August 7, 2008, 8:20PMIn line with their commitment to expand the use of the CHILD approach as a framework for food for education in Ethiopia, WFP have engaged a team of consultants to review the existing CHILD technical materials with the aim of integrating new lessons and bringing them right up-to-date.
CHILD Online Updated
May 11, 2008, 8:17PMCHILD Online has been updated to make it faster to load and easier to navigate. This is the first of a number of upgrades that we are planning at the CHILD Trust.
CHILD Book Available Free
May 11, 2008, 7:59PMWe have now made Through the Eyes of Children available to download free of charge from the Lulu website as part of our commitment to Public Benefit under the CHILD Trust proposal.
What does the future hold for CHILD?
September 1, 2007, 12:00AMThis extract from an article to be published on the CHILD website features the perspectives of three of the key personalities from CHILD’s conception about what the future holds for the approach. The contributors have all been, and continue to be, important voices in the development of CHILD. Jakob Mikkelsen (WFP): “Looking into the future, I see a number of opportunities, which will also raise challenges that I believe CHILD will have to deal with CHILD is poised to expand as the framework for the entire food for education programme in Ethiopia. In the new agro-pastoralist and pastoralist communities, the approach will need to adapt and learn, and may even evolve to become a different branch of CHILD. As CHILD pushes out its boundaries into lowland areas, what then should CHILD look like in these communities? With their own unique capacities and vulnerabilities, how can CHILD grow to meet the demands of such communities? What more can we do to insure involvement of children in the planning process? There is great potential to ensure that the process of CHILD is as effective as the outcomes in enhancing education. Other contributors include Al Kehler (WFP ODK) and Yemesrach Assefa (UNDP, formerly EC)
Powering change in Lalo Mama
September 1, 2007, 12:00AMAt a recent meeting of woreda (district) CHILD focal points in Amhara Regional State, there was an opportunity for many to share their experiences and achievements. This demonstrated the enormous level of innovation and ingenuity that is emerging from some schools and acted as an encouragement for both peers and programme staff alike. Some of the activities that were reported for the first time included: Coordination team between WFP, UNICEF, World Vision and Project Concern International projects est. Girls’ mothers’ association est. Feeder road construction Anti-Malaria clubs formed One particular woreda, Lallo Mama reported a highly innovative scheme established through the CHILD planning process. With the assistance of the woreda office, one school purchased a generator and now sells electricity to 52 local households for 4 hours every evening. Not only does this provide a steady income for the school, but it also provides an essential service for the surrounding community. As a result, the school has become a central institution within the village, highlighting it as a positive centre of development. In addition to the generator, the school has also initiated animal fattening as a sustainable source of income. Each year they buy 4 Oxen for 400 Birr (50 USD) each, fatten them up and then sell them after one year for 1200 Birr (150 USD) each: a 200 percent profit on the initial investment.
Linking together online
September 1, 2007, 12:00AMThe CHILD Community continues to grow through word-of-mouth, publications like CHILD Update, new partnerships and community-level outreach. To respond to this increasing demand for accessible information on CHILD, the child-online.com website has been redesigned to be more user-friendly, more attractive and more easily updated. Some key features of the new website are: Resources The resources section has been reorganised to put all free guidelines, books and other material in one place. Listserv CHILD now has an email group that you can join to easily share questions and information with other people interested in CHILD. Blog We are starting a blog to keep you more up to date more easily than ever before.
A FRESH start for SHN in Ethiopia
September 1, 2007, 12:00AMIn July a team of five individuals from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, WFP and Save the Children attended a regional school health and nutrition workshop in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop, run by the Partnership for Child Development, encouraged experience sharing and peer-to-peer learning amongst the 10 African countries and Bangladesh who attended the workshop. The participants were jointly sponsored by WFP, UNICEF and the Partnership for Child Development and brought back an extensive set of recommendations for the SHN policy development process currently underway in Ethiopia. These are now being put into action by the SHN Taskforce and the newly formed technical working group. Under the guidance of the taskforce, the technical working group is currently finalising the terms of reference for a team to draft the policy document that will build on studies such as the Best Practices report sponsored by CHILD in early 2007 and available online.
CHILD book in final draft stages
July 24, 2007, 9:09AMThrough the eyes of children: the struggle for change explores the ideas, experiences and potential of CHILD as an approach. Intended to both inspire and provide a broad framework for replication, this book is the first time that many of the CHILD concepts have been brought together in an easy-access format.
Children in Local Development (CHILD)
May 15, 2007, 5:50PMChildren in Local Development (CHILD) is a tried and tested approach to local level development that emerged from rural Ethiopia. Even in one of the poorest and most food insecure countries on earth, CHILD was able to tap into a deep reservoir of energy at the local level. The approach has been evolved into a comprehensive and integrated framework for transforming schools into centres that promote local development.
Children in Local Development now has its presence on the internet
September 1, 2006, 12:00AMA new website has been launched by the team behind CHILD in Ethiopia. It contains information and resources about CHILD, in addition to a picture gallery and all the CHILD newsletters. There is also a discussion forum on the site that will allow people involved or interested in CHILD to share their ideas and experiences. So now the achievements of CHILD schools are truly available to the world. This website is just the beginning of a plan to build a global CHILD community.
Groundbreaking CHILD partnership expands CHILD to Oromia
September 1, 2006, 12:00AMThe CHILD partnership signed between WFP, UNDP, the Nile Basin Initiative and Environmental Protection Authority has begun training to expand CHILD to a further 94 schools. This will see CHILD move into its fourth region, Oromia, in addition to expanding in Tigray and Amhara. The training was led by peer-to-peer educators from existing CHILD sites.
UNICEF, WFP and Save the Children US form core of new SHN taskforce
September 1, 2006, 12:00AMThe Ministry of Education is close to formalising a new taskforce to promote a School Health and Nutrition Policy for Ethiopia. A special report by the taskforce will highlight how existing efforts, such as CHILD, can be scaled up to meet the demands of this new policy. The taskforce plan to hold a conference in January that will be sponsored by CHILD.
Somali region to benefit from focused support
September 1, 2006, 12:00AMAs follow-up to the CHILD Essential Package training held earlier in the year, a plan to provided focus support to Somali region is being finalised. This will ensure that local Government staff are engaged in and leading community planning. Somali and Tigray regions will form the basis for UNICEF/WFP joint CHILD activities.
What’s new for 1999?
August 1, 2006, 12:00AMAs we approach the new school year in Ethiopia, 1999 of the Ethiopian calendar, the CHILD team would like to share some of the new and exciting adventures planned for next year. There are new interventions and ideas for all areas of the project from HIV/AIDS awareness through to planning and partnership. Partnership– UNDP and the Nile Basin Initiative have recently signed an MoU to support an additional 94 schools, as mentioned in the April newsletter, training will commence September 25th.
Quality not Quantity
August 1, 2006, 12:00AMAn issue that has appeared in the recent year concerns quality, nearly all activities being undertaken in CHILD schools are of an amazing quality, as communities utilise the craftsmanship of their community members to produce long lasting assets. However as the CHILD project tries to better itself next year, it is important not to forget the importance of quality. Hence later in the year the CHILD team is planning to produce a quality standard guideline for community planning and implementation, to ensure everybody is aware of the needs for long lasting assets.
It has been a defining month for CHILD as the approach gains momentum on a number of different fronts
June 1, 2006, 12:00AMIn the biggest CHILD training to date, 185 participants, including school directors, local administration, extension workers, parents and teachers attended a 6-day CHILD training workshop in Jijiga town. The participants, from all over Jijiga Zone will begin to use the CHILD framework in 37 schools as the first part of an expansion into Somali Regional state. The training was facilitated by a team from WFP, UNICEF and the local Mother and Child Development Organisation (MCDO) and will form the basis of the Essential Package in Somali.
Backing for CHILD-FFE Country Programme
June 1, 2006, 12:00AMIn the final day of its meeting in Rome, the Executive Board of WFP unanimously passed the WFP Country Programme for 2007-2011. The second component of this CP will consist of food for education implemented through the CHILD framework. This is an important watershed for adoption of the approach. Other major features of the programme include synergies between the 2 components and promotion of UNDAF based partnerships.
Mekele workshop highlights impressive results
June 1, 2006, 12:00AM36 woreda experts from Tigray region took part in a CHILD follow-up workshop on the 23 and 24 June. As well as being an important opportunity for experience sharing, the discussion highlighted some of the achievements. In the past 6 months alone, the 14 CHILD schools of Hintaloo Wajirat Woreda have completed 77 brand new classrooms between them, built entirely through local mobilisation efforts. Close behind them was Hawzen woreda, with 40 new classrooms. This is expected to increase further when the PCI support funds come onstream, another feature of this workshop.
Progress made on SHN task-force formation
June 1, 2006, 12:00AMWork towards a School Health and Nutrition policy in Ethiopia took a step forward this month as WFP, Save US and UNICEF led efforts to form a SHN task force. New members included FAO and USAID, with leadership being given by the Ministries of Education and Health.
Reflecting on the achievements in CHILD schools for the past academic year
June 1, 2006, 12:00AMThe 2005 to 2006 academic year was a very busy year for CHILD schools, 108 schools were implementing their planned activities for the second year. While the CHILD team trained an additional 151 schools in partnership with the Ethiopian Government. During the bi-annual experience sharing workshop for government counterparts, an opportunity was given for the diverse and imaginative array of activities implemented by all schools to be shared. Five of the most memorable achievements were 1) the installing of an electrical powered pump in Adaichaley school Amhara, 2) the purchasing of an electrical generator by the community of one school in lalomama Woreda, Amhara, 3) the establishment of huge vegetable gardens in Hawzien woreda , Tigray, 4) The construction of an access road for a school in Legambo woreda, Amhara, 5) 77 classrooms were constructed in 16 schools in Hintalo wajerat Woreda, Tigray. Needless to say these are only a handful of the achievements accomplished by CHILD schools. Holistically, over 200 classrooms were constructed, 50 water saving systems installed, 108 HIV/AIDS and Girls clubs established, numerous income generating schemes such as apiculture and silk production initiated, thousands of fruit trees planted and dozens of school gardens created. The creativity and motivation of the CHILD schools and communities has meant that mentioning all activities is simple impossible as there isn’t enough space in the newsletter. The CHILD team would like to take this opportunity to invite our readers in saying BRAVO! to all CHILD schools and communities for their efforts and achievements this past year.
WFP offers to complement key UNICEF and Save the Children research with recommended study
May 1, 2006, 12:00AMAs part of its commitment to realising comprehensive school health and nutrition in Ethiopia, WFP have presented the education sector development group with a draft terms of reference for a best practices study that it intends to support. This study, recommended by the Joint Review Mission 2006, will complement new research being undertaken by UNICEF and Save the Children US (supported by DFID) to assess the current state of SHN in Ethiopia. It is hoped that WFP’s study will link these findings to existing interventions, such as CHILD, in order to development an integrated SHN policy specific to Ethiopia.
Walk the World raises global support for school feeding
May 1, 2006, 12:00AMOn the 21st May 2006, over 760,000 people in 118 countries took part in Walk the World events to raise support to help fight child hunger. With over 300 million hungry children globally, ending child hunger by 2015 will effectively achieve the first Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of all hungry people worldwide. Supported by the global logistic provider, TNT, the Walk the World events raise money for the WFP School Feeding campaign. WFP currently feeds 21.7 million children through its school feeding campaign and aims to increase that to 50 million by 2008. Currently, WFP Ethiopia provides a cooked meal to over 626,000 children every school day. This is an investment in the future social capital of the country by helping to overcome the barriers to access education and improving the ability of children to concentrate and learn in class. The CHILD programme works hand-in-hand with school feeding to mobilise community participation and ensure the long-term impact of the programme.
Special visitors for CHILD schools in Hintaloo Wajirat
May 1, 2006, 12:00AMIt has been an action packed month for CHILD schools, with many completing their 2nd year plan and preparing for the coming break. One of the highlights for Hinatloo Wajirat woreda, however, was a visit by Mike Stayton, WFP’s chief of staff. He was accompanied on the visit to see CHILD in action by Barbra Bush. Ms Bush and Mr Stayton were able to see some of the excellent work that has been achieved in this woreda under the leadership of Ato Berhano, a local Education Office expert and advocate of the CHILD approach.
UNICEF Rwanda visit CHILD schools in Amhara and Tigray
May 1, 2006, 12:00AMAfter hearing about the CHILD programme, the UNICEF Kigali office sent one of their team members to Ethiopia to see CHILD in action and learn more about it. Mr Martijn Engels also undertook a short assistance mission that has highlighted how CHILD can be used to promote UNICEF and WFP collaboration and form the basis of Child Friendly Schools interventions.
Amhara holds a day for special feedback on how to improve CHILD further
May 1, 2006, 12:00AMOver a one day workshop on 18 May, 21 woreda level experts met together to share their experiences and future ideas related to CHILD. The one day event, organised by WFP Dessie, was part of a bi-annual evaluation of progress undertaken by the CHILD team that will travel to Mekele next month. The workshops give an important opportunity for interworeda discussion and to collect best-practices or challenges that have been experienced by the experts on the ground who implement CHILD. This evaluation showed significant progress has been made in meeting the previous challenges highlighted by the say workshop in November and reported in edition 1 of this newsletter. Awareness of the project has improved at all levels and the forthcoming cash support from Project Concern International will help to maintain the huge momentum of activities the communities have initiated. Future challenges set by participants included demand for implementing CHILD in non-WFP partner schools.
WFP and UNICEF prepare for new education partnership in Somali
April 1, 2006, 12:00AMWFP and UNICEF are on the verge of launching a new project in 37 schools of Jijiga Zone that will be the first phase in bringing the complete Essential Package to Ethiopia. The Essential Package is 12 internationally agreed interventions that are designed to support primary school education and health. This example of the Essential Package will use the CHILD community-led planning tool to ensure it is both sustainable and of high quality. While these schools will join the existing 200 successful CHILD schools in Ethiopia, the use of WFP private donor cash funding and technical and complementary support from UNICEF means that these schools will be a prime example for best practise in the forthcoming UNDAF II UN harmonisation effort.
Missing in Action: reasons that CHILD refrains from using signboards
April 1, 2006, 12:00AMAlthough WFP development activities work with over 800 communities and 1097 schools, one will rarely see a sign advertising this presence. The main reason that the CHILD team does not erect signboards in the growing numbers of partner schools is the paramount importance of community ownership in all our activities. The enormous number of achievements from CHILD and other activities, such as MERET, are foremost those of the community and the Government themselves and we think the main credit for such should belong to these people alone.
CHILD to make Child Friendly Schools (CFS) for Ethiopia
April 1, 2006, 12:00AMAs a result of discussions relating to the development of UNDAF II, WFP and UNICEF are currently finalising plans to jointly implement the CFS concept in Ethiopia.
Importance of integrating CHILD plans into Woreda Development Plans
April 1, 2006, 12:00AMWith the advent of decentralisation, the need for woreda offices to integrate the consolidated CHILD plan and budget into the annual Woreda Development Plan is even more important than ever. Doing so provides essential access to a wide variety of resources to support CHILD communities at the local level and demonstrates the commitment of the woreda to meeting the priorities of their school communities. This make it essential to complete the replanning exercise by the end of April at the latest.
How CHILD will make the Essential Package sustainable
April 1, 2006, 12:00AMThe Essential Package includes 12 basic health, education and environmental interventions. These will be implemented in Jijiga zone using the CHILD framework. CHILD mobilises the community to support their local school and create an enabling environment for both education and envelopment. Because problems are prioritised by the community themselves and they develop their own solutions to these based on the resources available to them and their own efforts, a sense of ownership and achievement is built up that can ensure the impact of CHILD is maintained in the future.
The Nile BasinInitiative confirmssu pport for CHILD
April 1, 2006, 12:00AMNews was recently received that the National Trans-boundary Environmental Action Projects (NTEAP) section of the Nile Basin Initiative, based in Khartoum, has confirmed its support to implement CHILD in 4 woredas of Amhara, Oromiya and Tigray. The Nile Basin money will be complimented by funds from the UNDP-EPA CCF2 project in 3 additional woredas. The partnership promises to lead on to future joint programmes.
We Fight Poverty: how CHILD is spearheading WFP efforts to reduce chronic vulnerability
April 1, 2006, 12:00AMMuch work has been done to highlight the complex and interdependent nature of rural vulnerability and food insecurity in the diverse regions of Ethiopia. Tackling this will require integrated and broad-based approaches that combine the expertise and resources of many agencies, organisations and individuals. Whilst many people are aware of the essential lifesaving role of WFP emergency operations, fewer know of the enormous efforts made to implement resilience building development activities. For instance, school feeding has for 12 years enabled access to education for up to 627,000 children annually. Combined with the CHILD community based capacity building programme, WFP is actively building the capacity of existing structures and institutions to create long-term food security. Programmes like CHILD and MERET build a foundation for development and demonstrate a continuous commitment to reducing poverty.
Rural schools are a key entry point for demonstrating skills in Natural Resource Management
March 1, 2006, 12:00AMThe Ministry of Education and WFP recently hosted a special round-table discussion on the potential to use rural schools as community demonstration and development centres for Natural Resource Management. The discussion, attended by colleagues from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development MERET project, the Environmental Protection Authority, FAO, UNDP and GTZ, was an opportunity to share existing experiences as well as determine future directions. The discussion was highly successful and all participants agreed that CHILD is an important opportunity to create working partnerships and a policy taskforce under MOE.
PCI and WFP sign BELONG agreement to support CHILD
March 1, 2006, 12:00AMOn Monday 20 March PCI and WFP signed their new partnership to support CHILD schools under the USAID-funded BELONG project. This partnership will provide a small grants facility to CHILD schools to meet needs that are beyond the existing capacity of the communities to meet. The partnership is an important step for both organisations as PCI establishes itself in Ethiopia and CHILD steadily gains broader recognition.
The importance of connecting CHILD schools with the woreda agriculture and natural resource offices is paramount
March 1, 2006, 12:00AMWoreda agricultural staff represent an enormous store of existing skills and knowledge that can be used by CHILD schools to improve their environments. At the local level too, Development Agents are key to designing strong CHILD plans that are linked to the Natural Environment surrounding the school. Therefore, it is essential that representatives from the Agriculture and Natural Resources offices are fully involved in the Woreda and Kebele Education, training and Management Boards that oversee CHILD. A good idea is for the Head of the Education Bureau to start by briefing the Head of the Agriculture Bureau on CHILD and agreeing to work together to ensure success.
UNDP, EPA and WFP to finalise 94 new CHILD schools
March 1, 2006, 12:00AMIn a landmark agreement being worked towards by the Environmental Protection Authority, UNDP and WFP, CHILD will be used as a common framework to support environmental activities in rural schools. The agreement, covering 94 schools in Amhara, Oromiya and Tigray, brings together resources from the UNDP-EPA CCF2 programme, the Nile Basin Initiative and the WFP-MOE School Feeding programme. It is hoped that this partnership will be the first of many working agreements based on CHILD under the new United Nations Development Assistance Framework in Ethiopia that aims to harmonise the work of the specialised UN agencies.
CHILD expands to a further 31 schools in Amhara Region
March 1, 2006, 12:00AMStaff from the WFP Dessie Office, the WFP Country Office and Jille Tumuga woreda Education Bureau recently came together in Kombolcha to provide CHILD training of trainers to 18 woreda-level participants representing Bugna, Tenta, Gerakeya, ZIqaulla, Kallu and Ambassel. This will be followed by community level training that will expand the total number of CHILD schools to over 200. CHILD is now being implemented in 21 woredas, with another 7 planned under partnership discussions with UNDP and EPA. Many of these woredas have noted spontaneous spill-over of the CHILD approach into schools neighbouring the school feeding sites. With exciting new partnership dialogues underway in many sectors the future for this CHILD seems bright.
IGAs are key to a good CHILD plan
March 1, 2006, 12:00AMWhile many school-level CHILD plans have demonstrated the ingenuity and imagination that the project aims to foster, it has been observed that the most successful woredas in realising the potential of their schools are those that place Income Generation Activities (IGAs) at the centre of their thinking. Not only do activities such as poultry, dairy, fruit orchards, vegetable gardens, woodlots, coffee, silk and bee keeping provide the schools with significant incomes, they can also teach the children and communities important skills for their own homes. Development Agents should help schools to plan income generating activities suitable for their environment and the community should agree in advance what this income will be spent on. Some ideas from other schools include HIV clubs, school benches and extra lessons for girls.
UNICEF organises the first Ethiopian technical workshop on partnership for water and sanitation
February 1, 2006, 12:00AMThe WASH technical workshop, held at the Ghion Hotel on February 22nd, was opened personally by the Ministers of Water Resources and Education. As part of UNICEF efforts to ensure the water and sanitation (WATSAN) sector is addressed in Ethiopia, the special workshop aimed at promoting partnerships and integration. The workshop was held in advance of the full scale implementation of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) initiative in which UNICEF is a key partner. The WASH initiative will focus on service delivery and also help develop WATSAN assets in the education sector.
WFP and UNICEF undertake a joint 2006 work plan exercise
February 1, 2006, 12:00AMAs part of their commitments to improving access and quality of education through UNDAF (United Nations Development Assistance Framework), UNICEF and WFP recently undertook a number of joint planning exercises. One of these, held between the Education and Water sections of UNICEF and the CHILD/School Feeding team at WFP was focused on using 2006 as a bridging year in harmonising work in the education sector. This will provide an opportunity to explore how CHILD can contribute to the global Essential Package and local UNICEF initiatives such as Child Friendly Schools (CFS).
WFP in discussion with the Nile Basin Initiative through UNDP and EPA
February 1, 2006, 12:00AMProgramme Officers from UNDP’s Environment and Sustainable Dry Lands Project are assisting WFP and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to negotiate a grant from the Nile Basin Initiative that will be used to support CHILD. The Nile Basin Initiative is a multi-lateral agency dedicated to the sustainable development of the Nile Basin area. CHILD is seen as an important tool to teach future generations sustainable land management techniques that will contribute to protecting this essential water source.
Importance of writing community and woreda proposals
February 1, 2006, 12:00AMMany schools have excellent CHILD plans that detail out what activities will be undertaken, what resources can be contributed locally and how much additional resource is required to be mobilised. Often the best way to mobilise these additional resources is to prepare a woreda proposal for a local NGO or project to support CHILD activities. A sample format for the main elements of a proposal is contained in the CHILD toolkit. Any proposal that is written should be specifically targeted at each organisation to which it is given. Although not all proposals will be successful, many NGOs will be keen to support CHILD activities and maximum use should be made to mobilise such resources locally.
The CHILD framework is a key tool in meeting Water and Sanitation objectives in schools according to MOE presentation
February 1, 2006, 12:00AMOn February 22nd, the Ministry of Education gave a key presentation demonstrating their commitment to comprehensive school health and nutrition. The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) technical workshop organised by UNICEF were given the example of CHILD as a best practice in integrating sectors at the local level. One of the key features of CHILD is multi-sectoral integration and holistic community planning. With water a major problem in many schools, it is hoped that WASH will present an excellent opportunity to take advantage of this integration.
Water remains a major challenge for the education sector
February 1, 2006, 12:00AMMany CHILD schools have found that access to water is a high priority for their community and can be difficult and expensive to provide. Such is the case in Kola Tembien woreda of Tigray, where WFP and the Bureau Heads on Education and Agriculture met to discuss the problem. The solution for many schools to undertake agricultural activities will be through local Development Agents assisting with the construction of microponds. However, providing potable drinking water is much more difficult. Some woredas will be able to benefit from the new WASH programme, others such as Kola Tembien can agree to jointly approach the local Water Resources Office to ensure integrated efforts are focused on providing water to rural primary schools.
62 new CHILD schools are trained in Tigray Region
February 1, 2006, 12:00AMA joint training by the Regional Bureau of Education and WFP recently initiated the expansion of CHILD in Tigray region. The Training of Trainers (TOT), conducted for 6 days in Adigrat, included 22 representatives from 4 woredas. These included experts from Education, Agriculture, Health, Women’s Affairs and Administration. The woreda experts trained will conduct local CHILD training in 62 communities during March.
A new partnership has been agreed that makes CHILD even stronger than ever before
January 1, 2006, 12:00AMProject Concern International, a US NGO that has recently opened its Ethiopia programme has agreed a partnership with WFP that promises to help CHILD achieve more than ever before. The partnership, worth an additional US $340,000 over 5 years to CHILD communities will focus on supporting a wide range of local-level activities that support Orphans and Vulnerable Children in and out of school. The partnership will form part of the USAID funded BELONG programme. Not only does this partnership represent more resources to support the efforts of CHILD communities, but PCI also brings experiences and expertise that will help enrich the programme and ensure it is even more effective in the future. With a number of other partnership discussions underway, it is hoped that this new PCI-WFP agreement will truly lead the way and become the first of many opportunities to support the efforts and achievements of CHILD communities and their schools.
Importance of making an achievable CHILD woreda plan
January 1, 2006, 12:00AMPhase 1 of CHILD has demonstrated incredible achievements by many schools and communities. However, having begun to review the consolidated CHILD woreda plans, the CHILD team have noticed that there are many different approaches to the process. Writing a realistic CHILD plan is an important tool in helping your communities to achieve more. It is the role of woreda staff to review community plans and make sure that the budgets are realistic and that any shortfalls can be met by mobilising local resources. Many activities can be undertaken simply through mobilising community members, such as home-visits to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. However, where cash support is required, it should be clearly identified in the community and woreda plans what contribution the community and the local woreda offices are going to make to help support the activity. Providing high-quality plans not only helps your communities to reach their potential and achieve real change, but they also help CHILD partners such as PCI to mobilise additional resources to support you.
PCI money will be made available to support shortfalls in achieving high priority activities
January 1, 2006, 12:00AMAllocations are currently being made to make PCI support money available to CHILD woredas. The first allocations will be targeted at addressing shortfalls in high priority activities. The second allocations will be based on performance in meeting community targets and the quality of CHILD plans. So make sure you take best advantage of this opportunity in your woreda.
The next generation guidelines promise even more for CHILD
January 1, 2006, 12:00AMWork is beginning to collate all the information and experiences from Phase 1 of CHILD to create the next generation of CHILD guidelines. This will include gathering technical manuals and experience from as many organisations as possible working in participation, education, environment, water and sanitation, health and livelihoods. If your organisation has experience, then please contact the CHILD team so we can use it to make CHILD better than ever!
HIV/AIDS should be a major consideration as the time comes to undertake Performance Profiles
January 1, 2006, 12:00AMThose schools trained in CHILD during Phase 1 are now approaching the time to undertake annual Performance Profiles. Performance Profiles are described in the planning manual and a blank format included in the toolkit to support this process. Performance Profiles should be undertaken by the Kebele Education Training and Management Board CHILD Planning Team and is an opportunity to reveal the achievements and challenges of the past year. The findings of the Performance Profile should be used to help plan the activities for next year. These activities should be based on high-priority issues identified during the Problem Identification and Situation Analysis exercises. A major consideration during the Performance Profiling activity should be how well the issue of HIV and AIDS has been addressed during the year. HIV is a growing problem in rural Ethiopia and ignoring it threatens to undermine all the other development achievements of CHILD. Guidance on HIV/AIDS activities can be found in the CHILD support module, with HIV/AIDS club coordinators and through your local woreda health bureau. Make sure you act now to include HIV/AIDS in your CHILD plan.
In November, woreda representatives from all over Tigray and Amhara met in Mekele
December 1, 2005, 12:00AMEducation, Natural Resources and Health experts all took part in an intensive workshop on the experiences, challenges and successes of the first 108 schools to implement the Children in Local Development (CHILD) framework designed by the Ministry of Education and WFP. The Workshop started with presentations on the experiences of Hintalo Wajirat and Jilletumuga Woredas, who between them have constructed over 30 new classrooms, planted over 7000 seedlings, started poultry and dairy farming, dug 4 shallow wells, and many more activities besides. The report from the Mekele workshop will be made available soon and will help in the design of the next WFP Country Programme.
CHILD newsletters to focus on special subjects
December 1, 2005, 12:00AMThis is the first issue of the CHILD newsletter and is intended to introduce you to the CHILD family. The next issues will continue to tell individual stories of success, but will also focus on more specific subjects related to CHILD. These will include HIV/AIDS, gender, water and sanitation, malaria, income generation, sustainable livelihoods and more. We will also distribute Infotechs relating to these subjects to support activities relating to each issue’s subject.
Gerbi School demonstrates innovative approaches to income generation
December 1, 2005, 12:00AMGerbi school in Amhara have demonstrated the true spirit of CHILD by innovatively reviving an income generation activity that had been abandoned by a previous large resource-intensive project. Through dedication and imagination the school director Wrt Ayalush has begun silkworm production. With the support of a local merchant, the school has already produced 3kg of raw silk, valued at 12 USD/kg. WFP is now producing an Infotech for other schools to replicate this activity based on Gerbi’s experience. In addition to the silk production, Gerbi has also constructed 13 new rooms, including two satellite schools to improve access and a handicraft centre. The community have supported this effort whole-heartedly, donating over $700 and their own labour for free.
Country Programme 2007-2011 preparation has begun between WFP, MoFED, MoARD and MoE
December 1, 2005, 12:00AMOne of the most significant aspects of this next Country Programme is the proposal to use CHILD as the implementing framework in all School Feeding schools. This was influenced by the amazing achievements and positive response to CHILD by all the schools who implemented it in 2005.
WFP in negotiations to provide support to CHILD schools
December 1, 2005, 12:00AMWFP is currently in negotiation to try and establish a fund of money that will be used to support activities undertaken as part of CHILD plans. All the parties involved in these discussions are optimistic of a high chance of success. Therefore, it is even more important to make sure that CHILD plans are kept up to date and that Woreda reports are filled in regularly so that this money can be disbursed quickly when it becomes available.
WFP invests in two dedicated staff members to support CHILD
December 1, 2005, 12:00AMWFP now has two staff members dedicated to supporting CHILD full-time. Mr Iain Gardiner is the field-support officer for CHILD and will become a familiar face to many woredas and schools as he supports the implementation and expansion of CHILD. Mr Joseph Barnes helped to develop the original CHILD guidelines and is now working on the expansion of CHILD and the next generation guidelines that will include all the lessons-learnt from the experience so far. The CHILD team also works closely with the School Feeding team and can be contacted at the WFP Country Office.
