Last month, we visited schools and communities in Ethiopia benefiting from support from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Education Cannot Wait (ECW).

As Japan prepares to host the G7 Summit in Hiroshima later this year, the country is in the process of revising of its ODA Charter – so the visit was timely to help rethink Japan’s aid policy for education. Ethiopia Country Offices of the World Bank, UNICEF and Save the Children co-organized and joined the mission.

GPE's investments in Ethiopia

It is estimated that more than 3 million children are currently out of school in Ethiopia. The country has been a GPE partner since 2004 and has received the highest amount in GPE grants, with more than $558 million over the years.

GPE has been working closely with the Ethiopian government and development partners to strengthen the country’s education system and improve access to quality education for all children. Save the Children is implementing a school feeding program, while other grants are implemented by the Ministry of Education with support from the World Bank as grant agent.

Meeting children and adolescents impacted by the ongoing crises

We visited four elementary schools in the Somali and Oromia regions, which are located about 600 km east of the capital, Addis Ababa. These schools have received or are currently receiving support from the General Education Quality Improvement Program for Equity (GEQIP-E), the Ethiopian government’s flagship program to improve internal efficiency, equitable access and quality in general education.

Two elementary schools were in rural areas, about an hour's drive from the Somali regional capital of Jijiga. On the drive there, we could see that the vast land was completely dry, and many crops had withered due to the severe drought. Some schools have been destroyed due to the conflict that occurred on the regional border until around 2019.

The elementary schools were supported by GPE, and school projects are now being implemented by Save the Children and UNICEF with support from ECW. Both internally displaced and host communities’ children attend the schools.

Education is the foundation of peace

We also met the parents of the children. Most of them had experienced the conflict and said they were unable to go to school. Nevertheless, they talked about how important education is for their children.

Their voices, having experienced conflict and yearning for peace, were precious and weighty. It was a strong reminder that education is the very power to live.

In response to our question "Do you think education leads to peace?", they said: “Needless to say, there are a lot of things that could have been solved with knowledge and wisdom instead of guns” and “You're here because you've been educated, isn't that the answer?"

The school feeding program is important

School lunches are served daily for children in the impoverished area who do not have enough to eat at home. School meals are an important source of nutrition. They motivate children to attend school and to learn, but also parents to send their children to school.

In areas where child marriage is still deeply rooted, it is important for parents to have an incentive for education and school attendance.

The school feeding program is implemented with the support of the local community, with consideration for nutrition. Water and sanitation facilities are also in place: safe and clean toilets are especially needed for girls to feel safe at school. The implementation of the school feeing program contributes to improving children’s school attendance.

Save the Children International has been working with the Ministry of Education to implement school feeding programs in several areas and districts since 2020 with support from GPE.

The comprehensive programs focus not only on providing school meals, but also on water and sanitation considerations, energy-saving cooking, community engagement, child participation and psychological support, institutional improvement and capacity building.

Since 2022, the programs have started to focus on children affected by emergency situations such as conflict and drought. The school feeding programs aim to improve the school enrollment rate and reduce dropouts.

Inclusive education

The other two elementary schools we visited are located in Jijiga city, the capital of Somali region. They receive support from GPE/GEQIP-E and are operated by the Regional Education Bureau of the Ministry of Education. We joined the inclusive education classes; a special class for deaf children was taught using sign language.

Discussion with the Minister of Education and AU Commissioner

In Addis Ababa, at the Ethiopian Ministry of Education, we were accompanied by Ms. Ito, Japanese Ambassador to Ethiopia, and exchanged views with Prof. Berhanu Nega, the Minister of Education.

The Minister explained the current situation and challenges, and noted the following needs for support from Japan:

• rebuilding the schools destroyed by conflict,
• continue to provide school meals,
• support pre-primary education.

We agreed that pre-primary and primary education are very important, based on the experience of Japan, which has an almost 100% literacy rate.

With Mr. Horiuchi, Japan’s AU Ambassador, we also visited H.E. Prof. Mohamed Belhocine, the AU Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, whose mandate covers the whole continent. He explained that emergency situations such as conflict and climate change, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the debt crisis were major challenges for education in Africa, as well as the lack of funding for education.

When we asked him how to promote the importance of education so that the general public in Japan understands the need for international cooperation, his answer was that "education is the most important asset for peace". Mr. Belhocine strongly requested that education should be the main theme of the next Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD), which hasn’t been the case in the past.

Towards more effective Japanese aid for education

Across Ethiopia, there are still many schools and children in need. To make the most effective use of the limited Japan’s ODA and increase effectiveness, actors across the education sector (the Ministry of Education, donors, international organizations, NGOs, etc.) should strengthen coordination mechanisms to ensure that quality sector plans are developed and implemented, rather than multiple donors providing one-off project-type aid in a discrete manner.

As pointed out in the third-party assessment on Japan’s education assistance policies, the Japanese government should promote multi-stakeholder partnerships, and implement more efficient and effective aid for education on the ground.

The reality we witnessed in Ethiopia is heart-wrenching. Simple things can go a long way to fight poverty and build fairer societies, starting with a nutritious diet, clean water, the ability to learn to read and count for all, including girls and women.

The people we met in Ethiopia repeated the importance, necessity and potential of education, as well as their gratitude to the international community for supporting education. It is a message we have taken back to our colleagues in Japan.