Category: Technology

Within the framework of the 2022 Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP), 22 partners appealed under the plan to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees fleeing from Ukraine and multi-sectoral support to authorities in the response to the refugee situation. The current number of RRP partners is not exhaustive of the operational number of humanitarian partners. The figures in this dashboard are reflective of the support that is being reported to the RRP coordination structure. The Education sector activities contribute to measures 13.1-14 and 17 of the National Plan of Measures and SDG 4 and 8.

 

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Three refugees won medals in Korean Ambassador’s Cup Taekwondo Championships hosted by Rwanda Taekwondo Federation supported by Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Rwanda.

On 17th November 2022, UNHCR completed the newly constructed 24 classrooms at Amahoro secondary school in Kiziba.

In November 2022, UNHCR supported the reception of 268 Rwandan returnees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Operational Context & Partners

The Government of Rwanda (GoR), through Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA), leads the refugee response in Rwanda in coordination with UNHCR. In addition, a range of UN Agencies, NGOs, operational and development partners participate in sector working groups at both country and district levels. Currently, UNHCR works directly with 11 partners in implementing key activities to assist both the refugee population and Rwandan host communities. To further strengthen the implementation of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), UNHCR maintains close collaboration with key government institutions and ministries

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Adolescents and youth in Burundi have co-created “Twigishanye” to brigde the digital divide and build knowledge at the community level

Jean Gabriel Uwamahoro

Using the Human Centered Design approach, adolescent’ informal advisory group of UNICEF adapted this initiative to the Burundian context to enable adolescents and youth getting the information they need to improve the quality of their lives. Following a series of meetings of the advisory group, a name, slogan, and logo for the platform, as well as some ideas for content to be conveyed on the site, were proposed for the Burundian community. The new name given is “Twigishanye” which means “Let’s learn together” and the slogan is “Ubumenyi bwacu, kazoza keza” which means “Our knowledge, Our future”. The logo is a map of Burundi with the name and the slogan of the platform.

What is Twigishanye?

It is a website hosting digital content, accessible even on low-end devices, designed to provide free information to save lives and improve quality of life. ‘’Twigishanye’’ helps communities access educational knowledge that is vital to their daily lives.

Plenty topics and issues can be discussed on ‘’Twigishanye’’ namely maternal health, hygiene, emergency information on diseases such as yellow fever, polio and cholera, HIV and sexual health tips for teens, internet safety, positive parenting techniques, etc.

Featuring multimedia and two-way communication functions, the IoGT platform can also be used to gather feedback and local best practices from communities through polling and survey features. The current content on the site was developed by UNICEF’s global expert teams and was revised by UNICEF technicians in Burundi for contextualization and adaptation prior submitting for translation.

Future content will be the life skills module as well as other content proposed by UNICEF sections and partners to achieve the goal of the IoGT site which is to provide young people and adolescents with training material within the framework of the “learn-to-earn” initiative.

By connecting to ‘’Twigishanye’’, children, teens, mothers, fathers, all family members, health educators, caregivers and community members can access quality, up-to-date content in the local language right on their cell phones, anytime, for free.

With ‘’Twigishanye’’, students can learn skills useful for their future careers, mothers can learn skills on how to protect children, adolescents can learn their rights, citizens and communities have the tools to report problems and demand change.

Source: UN Children’s Fund

To help repatriated children from Tanzania as Gerard to reintegrate and succeed in school, UNICEF with the support of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) funds, has set up catch-up classes in 139 schools in Makamba.

Elisa Revert Santamaría

At ECOFO Nyanza-Lac III, we meet Arsene Gerard BIGIRIMANA, 17, enrolled in the seventh year of secondary school. His classmates are somewhat younger than him as he had to join a lower grade than expected for his age. But this is not because Gerard is a bad pupil, and much less because he doesn’t like to study; but behind every pupil there is a story, and Gerard shares his with us.

This young Burundian lived for two years in the Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania with his family. His parents decided to move there in 2018 in search of a better life: “My parents decided to go to Tanzania looking for work, and my siblings and I went with them. We are 5 girls and 3 boys of scaled ages”, Gerard explains.

Gerard’s family has settled in the Nyarugusu refugee camp, located in the Kigoma region, 150 km from Lake Tanganyika. In recent years, the camp has been hosting mainly Burundian refugees fleeing their country, especially since the beginning of the political crisis in 2015.

Gerard’s father quickly found a job in the area, but not his mother. She stayed at home doing housework and taking care of Gerard’s younger siblings. “I made friends quickly, but school in Tanzania was not easy for me at the beginning. In Tanzania, my brothers and I went to school. It was difficult for me to follow the courses because I had to study in Swahili and English, and I didn’t know either language. I had to learn these languages, it was the only way to understand the lessons, but I was still very far behind”, remembers Gerard.

For his parents too, life in Tanzania was difficult: “Living in a refugee camp was difficult for the whole family, there were days when we didn’t t have enough food for all of us.”

For all these reasons, but especially for the learning difficulties they had at school, in 2020, Gérard’s family returned to Burundi and settled on Bukeye 1 hill, in the commune of Nyanza-Lac, Makamba province. Once back, Gerard was very happy to meet his old friends again and feels comfortable. He integrated now ECOFO Nyanza-Lac III.

Gerard, and two of his brothers, like other children repatriated from Tanzania, attend catch-up courses, which facilitate their learning and integration. His other sisters also follow this type of course, but in another school of the area.

To help migrant children reintegrate and succeed in school, UNICEF Burundi, with the support of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) funds, through its implementing partner War Child Holland, has set up such catch-up classes in 139 schools in Makamba province. Around 16,000 children like Gerard have attended these courses in French and Kirundi since the beginning of 2022.

“I had lost a bit my command of French because I didn’t practice it in Tanzania, but with the cutch-up classes, I have improved this language and it allows me to follow the other courses and be at the same level of knowledge as my classmates. The reinforcement courses have not only helped me improve French and Kirundi but have also helped me make progress in my learning of other subjects taught in these two languages”, says Gerard very enthusiastically. He confided to us that his favorite subjects are the Technology and the Entrepreneurship. These subjects will certainly be useful to him, as his dream is to become a doctor.

According to Lyduine NIYONGENDAKO, Headmistress of ECOFO Nyanza-Lac III, the school has enrolled 291 repatriates from Tanzania between the ages of 6 and 14: “they follow the same educational system as other pupils; they just have the additional catch-up courses”, she explains.

Repatriated children are identified by the child protection committees, the local administration or the school management committees: “Children have to present their birth certificate in order to be able to be enrolled in school, so most of the time, it is the Administration that informs us that these children are repatriated, and we act accordingly”.

To ensure that children are progressing well, the school management also maintains direct contact with the parents. *”We have even created WhatsApp groups to keep in touch with them, report on the children performance in class and inform parents on their children’s progress. There is a good cooperation between the school management and the parents in this sense,” *conclude the Headmistress.

Source: UN Children’s Fund

En date du 04 octobre 2022, à l’Hôtel Royal Palace, le Ministère de l’Education Nationale et de la Recherche Scientifique a organisé une réunion du Groupe Sectoriel de l’Education à l’intention des partenaires intervenants dans le secteur de l’éducation. Cette réunion a vu la participation des hauts cadres et cadres du Ministère du secteur concerné. La réunion a été rehaussée par la Présence de Son Excellence Monsieur le Ministre de l’Education Nationale et de la Recherche Scientifique, Pr. François HAVYARIMANA.

Le Chef de File et en même temps Représentant de l’UNICEF au Burundi a, dans son mot d’accueil, au nom de tous les partenaires au développement et en son nom propre, souligné que cette réunion est une occasion en or de passer  en revue la mise en œuvre des projets et programmes, apprécier leurs acquis et surtout identifier d’éventuels goulots d’étranglement  en vue de rectifier le tir afin d’asseoir une éducation de qualité pour chaque enfant burundais.

Le Représentant de l’UNICEF au Burundi, a en plus ajouté que l’élaboration du Plan Sectoriel 2022-2030 qui occupe une place de choix dans l’agenda du Ministère, reste une priorité pour tous les acteurs du secteur car, ce document qui dégage les grandes orientations prioritaires, constitue un cadre de référence dans toutes les interventions importantes relatives au secteur de l’éducation. C’est pour cela, que les Partenaires au développement prennent part activement à ce processus et restent mobilisés pour accompagner le Ministère à sortir un Plan Sectoriel qui réponde aux mieux aux défis du secteur éducatif. Le Chef de File a, d’ores et déjà annoncé que les partenaires au développement qu’il représente, vont  accompagner le Ministère dans  les activités  du Plan Sectoriel Education  pour garantir sa réussite.

Dans son mot de circonstance, Son Excellence Monsieur le Ministre de l’Education Nationale et de la Recherche Scientifique, Pr .François HAVYARIMANA, a salué les efforts consentis par chacun d’entre les membres présents  à la réunion  malgré leurs programmes très chargés. Il a ajouté que leur présence témoigne de l’engagement soutenu à collaborer afin de réaliser ensemble les ambitions en matière de l’éducation.

La réunion se tient avec un léger retard, en raison de multiples occupations des uns et des autres, qui n’ont pas permis de se réunir en temps utile. Rappelons que la dernière réunion du Groupe Sectoriel de l’Education avait eu lieu en date du 27 mai 2022 pour partager les résultats du rapport provisoire de l’Evaluation externe du Plan Sectoriel de l’Education 2022-2030 et s’enquérir de l’Etat d’avancement des préparatifs des Etats Généraux de l’Education.

La tenue de cette réunion constitue donc une nécessité urgente pour agir de manière harmonisée et coordonnée au service des résultats escomptés pour ce premier semestre de la mise en œuvre des activités programmés. L’objet de la présente réunion est de mettre tous les acteurs au même niveau d’information sur les dossiers de l’heure ainsi que l’évolution des principales activités en cours de réalisation ou envisagées au cours de l’exercice en cours. C’est ainsi que des présentations vont être suivies des échanges et porteront sur les thématiques ci-après :

-Le Plan Sectoriel de l’Education 2022-2030 ;

-La rentrée scolaire 2022-2023 ;

-Le Bilan de la Campagne Back to School;

-Voir ensemble deux projets et leur état d’avancement : Projet TWIGE NEZA et PAADESCO SHISHIKARA ;

-Le Bilan des activités des autres thématiques, l’élaboration de la Stratégie Nationale d’éducation inclusive et la feuille de route de la planification sectorielle.

Plusieurs activités ont été réalisées dont les plus importantes sont : l’organisation et la tenue des Etats Généraux de l’Education ; la Formation des formateurs des enseignants à recycler ; le recyclage des enseignants des trois premiers cycles en mathématique et en français ; l’organisation du test de recrutement des enseignants avec comme nouveauté le choix des questions sur la matière à enseigner et la maîtrise disciplinaire en plus des questions sur la méthodologie d’enseignement; la formation des Directeurs, Maitres responsables et enseignants de 3^ème année de l’Ecole Fondamentale sur les nouveaux manuels scolaires, dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre de la réforme de l’enseignement fondamental et la préparation  de la rentrée scolaire 2022-2023 .

Le Ministère de l’Education Nationale et de la Recherche Scientifique s’est classé deuxième au niveau des réalisations au deuxième semestre et cinquième au niveau de l’évaluation des réalisations annuelles. Avant de clore son discours, il a adressé des remerciements  à l’endroit des participants présents en leur disant que c’est grâce à eux, que le Ministère a pu atteindre ce pas. Il les a promis que toutes les réunions sectorielles de l’éducation et des groupes thématiques seront tenus régulièrement et garderont le caractère participatif et inclusif possible en associant tous les intervenants dans le secteur.

Le Discours de clôture a été prononcé par Monsieur le Secrétaire Permanent au Ministère de l’Education Nationale et de la Recherche Scientifique, Pr. Frédéric BANGIRINAMA. Il a promis aux participants à la réunion que la feuille de route leur sera envoyée par le chef de file des Partenaires au Développement pour qu’ils puissent en intégrer dans leur plan d’actions. Il a terminé par une seule recommandation et l’a été formulée de façon suivante: « constituer un bloc dans la mobilisation des fonds pour qu’on puisse plaider en synergie pour pouvoir accéder au financement conséquent afin d’atteindre les objectifs. »

Source: Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

Your Excellency Mokgweetsi Masisi, President of the Republic of Botswana,

Your Excellencies High Commissioners of both South Africa and Botswana,

Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers,

Business Leaders,

Members of the Media,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for joining us on the conclusion of what has been a successful and highly productive South Africa – Botswana Business Roundtable.

I would like to thank His Excellency President Masisi for the warm reception given to me and my delegation.

The delegation comprises government Ministers and Deputy Ministers, representatives of our state-owned companies and financial institutions, and leaders from the South African business community.

It has been 28 years since South Africa and Botswana established formal diplomatic ties.

Even as our bilateral relations have grown stronger over the years, we want to see far greater levels of trade and investment between our two countries. 

As we noted earlier, South Africa’s foreign direct investment stock in Botswana reached $5.1 billion last year.

There have been important investments by Botswana in South Africa.

Between 2003 and 2021, there were nine such FDI projects, which attracted capital investment of R3.9 billion and led to the creation of over 2,000 jobs.

In today’s discussion we got to hear the perspective of members of the Botswana business community on doing business in South Africa. 

This included representatives from companies that already have a presence in South Africa, and it has been refreshing to hear of their optimism about expanding their businesses in South Africa.

The South African business delegation includes representatives from a wide range of sectors including pharmaceuticals, automotive, manufacturing, agriculture and others.

Like all countries in the region and indeed the continent and the world, our economy was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

We have affirmed that deepening intra-African trade and investment, and taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area, can hasten an inclusive and sustainable economic recovery for the region and for our continent.

His Excellency President Masisi and I agreed that we need to encourage business in our respective countries to invest in catalytic development projects, particularly infrastructure. 

It has been pleasing to have representatives of our respective state-owned companies share their perspectives on the importance of infrastructure development to our common industrialisation efforts.

As South Africa we reaffirmed our commitment to supporting our fellow countries on the continent, including Botswana, to reach their industrialisation goals.

This can be done through strategic investments into other parts of the continent by our companies, financial institutions and state-owned companies. 

A major point of discussion today was around alignment towards a common plan of action by the Southern African Customs Union, of which Botswana and South Africa are members, for the operationalisation of the AfCFTA.

We expressed confidence at the work being done around creating industrial value chains in SACU, which would have great benefits for our respective economies.

We see great potential in leather and leather products, fresh produce, meat and meat products, textiles, clothing, cosmetics and essential oils. 

As Botswana and South Africa, we have agreed that our respective economies stand to gain substantially from the development of these value chains.

This Business Roundtable has been a good starting point for us to begin strategising and aligning our efforts in pursuit of common prosperity, greater reciprocal trade and much higher levels of investment.  

I am extremely pleased it has gone well and we look forward to the reports of our respective officials on the progress of the various initiatives we have agreed on today.

I thank you.

Source: The Presidency Republic of South Africa