Coordination of Education in

Emergencies
Power Dynamics and Accountability to Affected Population

Mara Pinto
University of Minho
Research Center of Child Studies 01
FCT – Science and Technology Foundation
 INTRODUCTION

Humanitarian crises are becoming MORE FREQUENT AND MORE COMPLEX, affecting more people,
especially in so-called fragile states, and lasting longer (Wilkinson & Peters, 2015).

Global Humanitarian Overview 2021 - there are 248.5 million most vulnerable people facing hunger, conflict,
displacement, the impacts of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic in 56 COUNTRIES.

248.5 M people in need

 INTRODUCTION
Education is an important factor in fragile contexts:

- place of normalization, a protective place from trauma, from kidnapping, from forced labor;

- complementary to other sectors where health (vaccination), food, access to water and sanitation, and even protection as
a sector can be assured.

- place of encounters, socialization, and support among peers and professionals;

- hope and skills (including literacy and numeracy) so that the child can grow up and face problems and life in security;

- teachers are the largest mass of civilians who "seek" peace or have not yet joined the battle fronts, so it is also valuable
not to abandon them.

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 Contents of the Presentation

Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: Part 4:

Message from Coordination in EiE Power Dynamics and Actual situation and
Affected population the need for findings from my
community research
empowerment

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02
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 AFFECTED Aysha Touma, a representative of Yasaminat Syria, says:
PEOPLE VOICE
"my overriding wish is that humanitarian aid will always
affect me, and the entire displaced population positively
and not have a negative impact on our lives already
disrupted by the crisis"

in, Humanitarian Accountability: Are we making aid work

better for people affected by crises? 2020

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 INTRODUCTION
The coordination in an emergency setting can help to make sense
of the humanitarian aid, informing decisions, supporting with
capacity building and helping to connect the dots.

Coordinating Education, is coordinate one of the most powerful

systems that can allow children to have opportunities in the future.

How can we coordinate the Education Cluster in a more powerful

way? Where children can benefit the most and the better from it?

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 EIE COORDINATION

Bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent and

principled education response to emergencies and assist people
when they are most in need of relief and protection. (ODI)

When a country needs support in coordination, the Education

Cluster can be activated.

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 EDUCATION CLUSTER
DO NO HARM
Principle of
humanitarian system

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 Power dynamics set the tone at almost
every level of human interaction.

POWER They influence decisions to speak up,

shape an organization’s approach, and
DYNAMICS even guide the ways in which a
government treats its citizens, and
enforces reforms. (World Bank, 2014)

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 In Humanitarian settings, not listening actively to the
affected population can lead to misunderstood, wrong
prioritization and even DO HARM!

So...
Do no harm principle
Conflict sensitive Education approach
Gran Bargain guidelines
Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and
Accountability

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 COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT

In the practice:

Accountability to Affected Population

Conflict sensitive Education programming
Localization
Child Safeguarding and Child Participation
Child Protection

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 THE ACTUAL SITUATION AND SOME OF MY
RESEARCH FINDINGS AT THIS STAGE
Coordination is a complex role in a complex system that act in complex context;

It's hard to find and justify funding for coordination. The situation is changing, but in
some countries, this still is a reality;

Coordinators in country have a lot of tasks and work, and Accountability to Affected
Population is not always the priority and not always effective;

The Civil Society and local organizations, as cluster members, still have very little
power, fund and presence in the decisions-making processes.
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