Seoul ­­ IOM Mission in the Republic of Korea (ROK), in partnership with World Vision Korea, hosted the Workshop on Education in Emergencies from 25 to 26 May 2022. The workshop was attended by 25 ROK humanitarian professionals from NGOs and government institutions engaged in humanitarian assistance.

Education in Emergencies (EiE), as a life-saving intervention, is a key component in humanitarian assistance. It has been an indispensable protection mechanism, as well as a strategy for reinforcing the value of education and the establishment of normality.

The two-day workshop sought to enhance the practical understanding of EiE among ROK humanitarian practitioners and help forge productive and sustainable project management skills in addressing educational needs in emergency contexts. A key aim of the workshop was to help the attendees effectively plan and deliver EiE projects based on the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) minimum standards which IOM ROK also translated into Korean, jointly with World Vision Korea.

Marco Grazia, Global Director for Child Protection and Education in Emergencies, World Vision International and Bente-Sandal Aasen, a trainer for INEE co-facilitated the workshop based on INEE Framework by tapping into EiE’s foundational standards, guiding principles, implementation and evaluation of EiE-related projects. They also tapped on humanitarian and development actors’ preparedness in the delivery of quality and safe education for all those affected by protracted crises, incorporating the Humanitarian Development Peace Nexus perspectives. Experts shared not only thought-provoking knowledge on each topic, but also concrete examples from their decades-long field experience to ensure that the learning can be immediately applied into action.

“Workshop on Education in Emergencies target practitioners, program managers and program officers to have basic understanding of what INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies is and aim to practically use these standards in program development. It has been a valuable opportunity to not only learn about rationale and theory, but also develop interaction among the participants so that they can bring their own experience and knowledge to enrich the course. This training definitely offered thought-provoking and insightful sessions by emphasizing why education in emergencies is important, why we need minimum standards for education in emergencies and how these can be practically utilized in the field. Finally, we were also able to work on the essential concept of intersectoral and sectoral integration, a new way of working that is very much push forward by the humanitarian architecture,” said Marco.

“This workshop provided awareness-raising activities for the attendees to realize education is a fundamental right and a basic need for those crisis-affected population caught in humanitarian emergencies,” added Bente. 

Since 2014, IOM ROK has taken a key role in consolidating a wide range of capacity-building support for ROK humanitarian actors with funding support from US Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA).

For more information please contact Eunice Jieun KIM, IOM Republic of Korea Mission, Tel.: +82 70 4820 0291, Email: jikim@iom.int.