Contributing to avoiding a lost generation - Education Development Fund III (Phase II)

completed

In order to help alleviate the greatest hardship for vulnerable groups in Zimbabwe, especially children, and to strengthen the structural basis of schools in Zimbabwe to better deal with crises caused, for example, by El Niño phenomena, EUR 15 million will be made available for Zimbabwe through the Education Development Fund (EDF) managed by UNICEF. These measures complement ongoing activities amounting to EUR 14 million that were paid out in 2016 (BMZ No. 2016 18 792). The current EDF III (2016 - 2020) offers an established platform for the rapid and effective implementation of the measures, particularly through the application-based School Improvement Grants component. In this component, schools have the opportunity to plan and apply for measures to improve school structures as part of school development plans, also in order to better prepare for crises and external shocks such as drought or hunger. The funds provided are intended to provide the opportunity to implement long-term, structural measures. These primarily involve resilience-enhancing measures, such as the construction of school gardens, the construction of wells for a safe water supply or the improvement of hygienic conditions through WASH. At the same time, the education system will continue to be strengthened. In its current phase, the EDF also includes a disaster risk reduction component that aims to strengthen national risk reduction structures. The main focus is on creating the conditions for a functional early warning system and on strengthening and planning resilience-enhancing measures.