Iman lives in Aleppo, the capital city of Aleppo governate, the most populous governate in the country and one of the areas most affected by the deadly earthquakes that hit Syria in February 2023.

3.7 million children live in the areas of Syria affected by the earthquake, and over 2,500 schools were impacted. Hundreds of schools were damaged and hundreds more served as temporary shelters for survivors and those displaced.

With support from GPE, UNICEF and other partners, education resumed in 61 temporary learning spaces such as the school-turned-shelter in which Iman and her family stayed.

Iman has congenital polio. Prior to the earthquake, she had missed out on school because there were no schools with capacity to accommodate children with disabilities. Now, through educational activities provided at her shelter, including remedial classes, she is catching up on her education.

“It is challenging to take care of a child with a disability in a shelter,” says Iman’s mother, “but she, her father and I are a team. We take good care of her. She is attending the classes here and we can see her making progress. We are truly proud of her.”

Mohamed and his family found a safe space at the same school-turned-shelter. Thanks to inclusive education support, Mohamed has participated in speech rehabilitation sessions and had monthly follow-ups by specialists to assess his developmental and academic progress.

“I am the best at completing the puzzle of the human body. I learned to do it here, and it is becoming easier for me,” says Mohamed.

Immediately following the earthquake, GPE in consultation with the Education Dialogue Forum (EDF) in Syria took action to mobilize funding to meet the urgent needs of children in affected areas.

One week later, a US$3.75 million grant with UNICEF and Save the Children as grant agents was announced for activities including setting up temporary learning spaces, cleaning and repairing damaged schools, delivering school meals and providing psychosocial support.

In addition, $1.87 million was reprogrammed from the existing $25 million GPE funding to support earthquake education response.

Since the initial funding, GPE has also mobilized additional funding of $15 million with UNICEF and Save the Children as grant agents to provide further support for the resumption of education in earthquake affected areas in Syria.

GPE will continue to harness the power of partnership to help ensure the children of Syria get the education they need.