Country Profile - Eritrea

Context

In July 2018, following the signing of the Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship by Ethiopia and Eritrea, tensions softened significantly between the neighbouring countries, and in November 2018, the United Nations Security Council lifted sanctions against Eritrea. However, the risk of landmines and explosive remnants of the war continues to affect border communities and in particular children and adolescents.

Additionally, Eritrea is characterized by harsh climatic conditions, including cyclical drought, which affects groundwater resources and flooding during rainy seasons. These events exacerbate the vulnerability of communities, making it difficult for families to fully recover from the effects of one emergency before another strikes. In recent years, the country’s climatic conditions have tested the coping capacities of the population, which is largely dependent (80%) on subsistence agriculture. As a result, some 300,000 children and adolescents are out of school, with the majority of out-of-school children and adolescents from nomadic communities that are vulnerable to natural disasters.

Eritrea Map

INTERVENTION

The Ministry of Education of Eritrea has embraced the Kit by dedicating the Secondary Education Unit and the Life Skills Curriculum Panel to lead and oversee the implementation of the Kit and to promote adolescent development and participation through school clubs. 44 schools have benefited from the Kits and are reporting positive responses from the students and the school communities alike. These schools have developed action plans that use resources from the Kit.

UNICEF Eritrea has distributed 100 Kits to 100 schools and used the Kit to train 353 school club facilitators, directors, and supervisors to equip them with the necessary skills to conduct activities and support training of new facilitators in their schools. The school clubs are now up and running, active and technically equipped to engage adolescents by facilitating intergenerational dialogue and behaviour change on prominent social issues such as child marriage, violence against children, female genital mutilation/cutting, menstrual hygiene management, immunization and nutrition.


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