Enabling safe access to education

The city of Sirte has seen some of the heaviest fighting in Libya, with many houses, shops, schools and hospitals damaged beyond repair. Through support by the EU’s Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP), DCA Libya has been able to support efforts of rebuilding and refurbishment of these essential services.  

DanChurchAid in Libya

School might not be the first thing that young children think of as fun, but in Libya, the conflict has so severely disrupted education, either from on-going fighting or due to damaged or destroyed buildings, that many children and youth have missed months of schooling and in some cases over a year. As a result, children have missed an important part of their intellectual and social development. In areas with ERW contamination, it is not common for children to play outside. 

Parents will often keep children at home or close to home and without school, they cannot see their friends and do the things that children love; boys playing football or chasing each other in the playground and girls skipping and singing songs. With EU funding, DCA’s clearance teams have been instrumental in helping children and youth return back to school and to a more normal life. DCA’s approach is to identify synergies with other development actors and In coordination with the municipal council and the department for education, DCA conducts survey and clearance to ensure that their workers can safely enter educational facilities to repair and reinstate them.  

Since 2017, DCA has supported IOM, UNICEF, UNDP, Chemonics and IRC in clearing educational, medical and utility sites that were scheduled by them for renovation. At meetings with the municipal council, DCA coordinate which schools will be renovated and prioritize the order of clearance. Teams trained in urban clearance and buildings search then deploy and systematically survey and where required clear the sites. The damage to schools is often substantial and the clearance work slow and cautious, to ensure that the schools are 100% safe for the workers, school staff, and eventually the children.