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Education in Emergencies

By People in need

August 2^nd, 2025

People in Need (PIN) started its first Education in Emergencies (EiE) response in 2000 in Chechnya (Russia) and currently has expanded to include EiE programming in 12 country contexts across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. PIN works in low- and middle-income countries, with a particular focus on children affected by crises and living in active conflict, protracted crises and early recovery contexts. Through our programming PIN aims to ensure that girls and boys are safe, well and learning within a supportive environment.

In order to provide the best possible support to the children, educators, caregivers and communities we work with, PIN priorities close and meaningful partnerships with national and local authorities, national non-governmental organizations and civil society. PIN strongly believes that quality of programming also requires active engagement with national and global coordination mechanisms and networks.

PIN’s Relief and Development Department (RDD) programming is framed around three guiding pillars (Emergency Response and Recovery, Climate Resilience, Civil Society and Inclusive Governance). Education is an integral component that cuts across all three pillars, making it a key strategic sector for PIN. Below you will find PIN's Education in Emergencies' programming in conflict-affected countries, as part of PIN's Emergency Response and Recovery Pillar.

In 2024, PIN supported:

123,902 conflict-affected children to continue their education
4,153 teachers and other education personnel with financial and material support, and capacity development.
5,663 parents and caregivers with parenting skills and psychosocial support

Syria

PIN’s education programme in Syria began in 2013 to ensure that crisis-affected school-aged girls, boys and youth are offered inclusive, quality educational support that contributes to their overall development and well-being. PIN’s education programming in Syria provides a comprehensive package of support to schools and learning centres.

The main aim of PIN’s education interventions in Syria is to promote access to quality formal and non-formal education opportunities, improve learning outcomes and support overall child well-being through teacher professional development, school rehabilitation, provision of teaching and learning materials, psychosocial support activities, parenting skills in addition to caregiver and community engagement. Amidst the evolving governance landscape in Syria and the ongoing returnee movements, PIN collaborates with the Ministry of Education (MoE) to develop and implement Bridging Programs, facilitating the smooth reintegration of children into the formal education system. In 2024, we supported 2,141 education personnel to ensure over 49,000 children were able to get a quality education and access to wellbeing support.

Ukraine

PIN's education programming in Ukraine began in 2022 in response to the Russian invasion. Our initial work supporting Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) in the eastern regions has grown to a much wider geographical and technical scope, leading to provision of more focused educational support in the border and frontline areas in the North and East of Ukraine.

Our education interventions aim to ensure access to quality education for war-affected primary and secondary school-aged children and adolescents through the rehabilitation of schools damaged by the war, rehabilitation of school bomb shelters, provision of remedial education programme and setup of Digital Learning Centres that enable children to continue to access online learning during school closures and periods of insecurity.

PIN also provides teachers and education personnel with key skills to better enable them to support children's wellbeing and learning, and to prioritise their own wellbeing and build self-care and coping skills.

To support sustainable, inclusive learning in partially reopened schools, PIN establishes also School Improvement Committees that empower teachers, caregivers, and children to collaboratively assess needs and implement action plans enhancing safety, accessibility, and well-being—particularly for vulnerable groups. Furthermore, PIN has expanded its pre-existing psychosocial support helpline to be accessible nationwide and to include specific provision for children requiring psychological and wellbeing assistance.

PIN's educational support is possible through close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Science and the humanitarian education cluster, whom we support through leadership of the northern sub-cluster covering six oblasts located in the North of the country. PIN's education support in Ukraine helps to ensure that children's wellbeing is prioritised and that they have the opportunity to continue to learn and develop in safe and supportive environments. In 2024, we supported 1,108 education personnel to ensure 13,110 children were able to get a quality education and access to wellbeing support.

Afghanistan

PIN’s Afghanistan programme started in November 2001, promoting PIN's core values: envisioning a world where people are free to make decisions about their lives, and are not restricted by an un-free society, poverty, lack of education or discrimination. For many years, PIN AFG focused on Agriculture Education, nevertheless after the change of the regime in August 2021, PIN shifted its focus on Education in Emergencies (EiE).

PIN’s Education programme in Afghanistan focuses on providing access to Education and Psychosocial Support (PSS) for primary school-aged boys and girls not enrolled in formal learning in Kabul, Maidan Wardak and Samangan provinces. PIN also responds to the returnee crisis, providing catch up classes and administrative support for returnee children coming back from Pakistan and Iran, for them to integrate the Afghan schooling system and continue their education. At PIN, we prioritise children's safety and wellbeing and support them to develop coping mechanisms and key skills that set the foundation for their further learning and development. All our activities are aligned with international standards and the national Community Based Education (CBE) approach, ensuring that learning spaces are safe, child-friendly and conducive to learning and that children have access to essential water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. Learning facilitators are recruited from within the communities themselves so that parents, caregivers and community members are fully engaged in children's learning and that they are able to earn a basic income to be better able to support their families. These facilitators are trained on basic pedagogy and classroom management and provided with ongoing mentoring support to encourage teaching approaches that are as child-centred and participatory as possible.

All our activities are coordinated with the respective de-facto authorities and local schools to ensure that children can transition from CBE and continue to learn and develop within the formal education system. In 2024, we supported 150 teachers to ensure 5,250 children were able to get a quality education.

Nepal

PIN’s Nepal’s education programming began in 2015 in response to the earthquake, ensuring children could return to learning. In 2018-19, the education programming expanded with the aim of improving the life choices and opportunities for out of school girls by providing literacy, numeracy, and life skills, while also mitigating the adverse effects of early marriage and addressing harmful social and gender norms. The project was part of the Girls Education Challenge (GEC) Leave No Girls Behind (LNGB) programme funded by FCDO. The project reached 9,497 out-of-school (OOS) girls, with 8,122 graduating from Community Learning Centers (CLCs) and out of which, 4,986 re-enrolling in formal education. Additionally, 2,347 girls pursued Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). A total of 462 CLCs were established with trained facilitators, and cash grants were provided to 7,220 girls to support their transition plans to school or small businesses.

The project consistently collaborated with local, provincial and federal education clusters to support education during emergencies. In response to floods and cold waves in the working areas, the project implemented timely emergency and winterization support as of which, girls were equipped with winterization materials to cope with climate-related challenges, benefiting 4,905 girls.

Building on the learnings from the Aarambha project, PIN has launched a another project - Accelerating Civil Society’s Role in Securing Education (ACCESS), funded by the European Union. Starting in May 2024, the ACCESS program aims to strengthen civil society’s role in advocating for equitable education with a focus on inclusiveness, equity, and community engagement across 60 local government units in three provinces and enhance the capacity of 120 civil society organizations (CSOs) to support the implementation of Nepal’s School Education Sector Plan (2022–2032).

Following an earthquake in Karnali – Jajarkot districts in 2023/2024, PIN distributed student kits to children to facilitate their reintegration into formal education. Through our 2024 earthquake response, we reached 10,253 children with 54 ECD kits and 150 Schools kits which benefited 54 schools in affected areas.

Gaza

In cooperation with our partner organization War Child, PIN provided 525 families with urgent psychological first aid. PIN/WCA also set up 17 learning spaces, safety permitting, where open days were organized to provide much needed recreational activities for children. The recreational activities included clown performances and story-based and theatrical sketches emphasizing the importance supporting each other’s emotional well-being, highlighting the value of education, reinforcing respect for parents, and promoting respect among peers. Overall, in 2024, PIN reached 14,845 children with EiE/MHPSS support in partnership with War Child.

Iraq

PIN's education programme in Iraq started in 2003 and expanded in 2015 to support a multi-faceted crisis addressing both the Syrian refugee crisis and the internal displacement of Iraqis in Erbil governorate.

PIN's programme supports both formal and non-formal education through the provision of essential learning materials, the rehabilitation of educational institutions and learning spaces, and environmentally conscious initiatives aimed at combating the adverse effects of climate change. This initiative extends to remedial and Kurdish language classes for children enrolled in formal school from ages 6-18 aiming to increase their knowledge and ability to continue their education. A total of 1,234 children includes (772 girls, and 462 male) participated in these initiatives

Recognising the important role of educators, PIN is committed to empowering teachers and learning facilitators through targeted capacity-building endeavors, fostering their ability to nurture the well-being and educational progress of their students by instilling self-care and coping mechanisms, and providing tailored psychosocial support activities to alleviate the stress resulting from conflict-induced stress and displacement. Moreover, PIN supported the establishment and reactivation of PTAs in targeted schools by delivering tailored capacity-building trainings. PTA members were equipped with the knowledge and tools to design and implement School Improvement Plans. This aimed to empower them to operate independently and enhance the quality of education at the school level.

PIN is also introducing environmental education into supported schools, to help children understand the impact of climate change on their lives and enabling them to undertake proactive measures to mitigate its impacts. As of 2025, our efforts have resulted in the empowerment of 60 educators and facilitators, supporting the education of 1,821 (942 girls, 879 boys) refugees, IDPs, and host community children and ensuring their increased access a quality education.

Moldova

PIN’s education programme in Moldova began in 2022, in the same year when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moldova was under significant pressure resulting from the influx of refugees.

The aim of the programme is to ensure access to education for primary and secondary school-aged Ukrainian refugees in the regions of the country where such services are scarce, including rural areas. To do so, PIN established Digital Learning Centres that enable children to continue to access online learning provided by the Ministry of Education in Ukraine alongside Child Friendly Spaces which built cohesion between Ukrainian and Moldovan children and supported their wellbeing through social-emotional learning.

The support expanded in 2024, through funding from UNICEF to encompass 70 EDUTech Labs across the country. In addition to accessing online education, children are offered a large variety of non-formal and informal education activities such as language classes, STEM lessons, and handicrafts workshops. PIN also provides facilitators with key skills to better enable them to support children's wellbeing and learning, and to prioritise their own wellbeing and build self-care and coping skills.

PIN's support to education in Moldova helps to ensure that children's wellbeing is prioritised and that they have the opportunity to continue learning and developing in safe and supportive environments. In 2024, we supported 73 facilitators to ensure 2,079 children to had access to quality education and wellbeing support.

Georgia

PIN’s education programme in Georgia began in 2022 with the aim of supporting Ukrainian refugees. We supported schools with vital supplies to enable them to better accommodate Ukrainian refugee integration into the formal education system as well as working together with local partners to support for child friendly spaces (CFS) providing wellbeing support and the provision of social-emotional learning for school-aged children. In 2024, we supported 19 teachers/facilitators to ensure wellbeing support for 1,421 children.

Armenia

PIN’s education programme in Armenia began in 2020 to support children from Nagorno-Karabakh who fled into Armenia during the war by establishing and running seven Child-Friendly Spaces (CFS). Five CFS were re-started in September 2023 when the majority of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh fled to Armenia after a 9-months blockade followed by conflict. The aim of the programme is to provide a safe child-friendly space for children from 3 to 15 years old where their wellbeing is supported through recreational activities and social-emotional learning.

Furthermore, by including children from the host community, children from the 2020 displacement and children from the 2023 displacement, the programme supported social cohesion between children from various groups. PIN also provides facilitators with key skills to better enable them to support children’s wellbeing and learning, and to prioritise their own wellbeing and build self-care and coping skills.

PIN’s support to education in Armenia helps to ensure that children’s wellbeing is prioritized and that they have the opportunity to continue developing in safe and supportive environments. In 2024, we supported 6 facilitators to ensure 506 children had access to quality wellbeing support.

Ethiopia

PIN’s Ethiopia’s education programming began in 2003 with construction and rehabilitation of school infrastructure. It expanded in 2018, with the aim of creating and maintaining safe and inclusive learning environments for most marginalized and/or out-of-school girls, including girls with disabilities, developing their literacy and numeracy skills. This programming was part of the Girls Education Challenge (GEC) Leave No Girls Behind (LNGB) programme funded by FCDO.

Following the conflict in the northern part of the country, the education system was highly damaged which caused, together with the COVID-19 pandemic, up to four years of school closure. As a result, PIN started its first Education in Emergency (EiE) response in 2023 in the Tigray region. Currently the EiE interventions focuses on Tigray, Oromoia, South Ethiopia and Amhara regions of the country.

The focus of PIN’s EiE interventions is to promote access to quality education opportunities and supporting children’s overall wellbeing through creating and maintaining safe school environment. PIN improves learning outcomes through developing the learners’ literacy and numeracy skills, improving the learning environment through rehabilitation and construction of learning spaces and WASH facilities, the provision of standardised teaching, learning and recreational materials, provision of PSS activities, teacher professional development, and hygiene and sanitation promotion. In 2024, PIN supported 8,287 children in schools through its WASH in schools programming and partnerships with other education actors.

Thailand

PIN began working with Burmese refugees in Thailand in 2024. Through a partnership with Health Without Frontiers and Education for Development Foundation, children in migrant learning centres were provided with social-emotional learning sessions to increase their resilience and improve their overall wellbeing. In 2024, PIN supported 5,591 children and 101 teachers.

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