Education in emergencies: impacts and challenges of coordinating actions to improve access to quality education in protracted crises

The present work focuses on Education in Emergency projects developed by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in three different protracted crises. First, the Syrian crisis at the regional level primarily impacts neighbouring countries (Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan) due to the number of refugees present on their territories. At the national level, the case of Nigeria presents a violent conflict affecting the country’s North East region. Moving to a local scale, the study explores the context of the Mbera Camp in Mauritania. This exploratory research applies grounded theory to practice through analysing operational documents and interviews of professional actors from International organizations and NGOs. By shedding light on coordination mechanisms and integrated approaches, I identify four opportunities in non-formal and formal education sectors to improve learning environment and practices through a more coherent, effective and inclusive action. Complementary actions with interlinked humanitarian actors enable to reach more children in need and guarantee a safe school environment. Cluster, consortium and area-based approaches present the advantage of avoiding duplicity and improving participation of stakeholders. To collaborate with government structures improves the efficiency of the programs and enhances educational continuity by supporting the formal education sector. Finally, coordinated advocacy strategy represents a key component to move from the short to the long-route programming. They all contribute to strengthening education systems. However, several structural and external factors limit these impacts and thus, the coverage of educational needs in crisis settings. Thereby, this study contributes to a better understanding of what works and what needs to be done to improve access to, and continuity of, education from the early childhood to higher education in conflict affected contexts