Colombia’s Education Crisis: Results from a Learning Assessment of Host Community and Venezuelan Children

Originally from Burundi, Vital was one of thousands of Burundians forced to flee in 1972. At 19 years old, he lived in a temporary center that hosted refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as Zaire. He spent ten years in the DRC and continued his education despite the challenging circumstances.

This week, many kids in the United States return to class for the start of a new school year. But for the millions of children around the world facing conflict and crisis, lessons this year look very different. 

n 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in school closures from mid-March 2020 to March 2022. Thereafter the floods in the year 2022 disrupted education activities and caused destruction of nearly 27,000 government schools. Learn more in this report.

IRC in NY’s Adult Education Coordinator, Alexandria has been working at the IRC in NY for three years, teaching English classes, facilitating resume-building workshops, conducting cultural orientation, and even facilitating a women’s self-defense workshop.

This scoping study was initiated by the International Rescue Committee with funding from the World Bank Global Shield Financing Facility and analytical support from Lion’s Head Global Partnersexplores. It explores how disaster risk financing (DRF) and climate finance can support more resilient education systems in low- and middle-income countries. It highlights how natural hazards-such as floods, earthquakes, and cyclones-threaten educational infrastructure and learning outcomes. Despite growing global DRF and climate finance mechanisms, education remains underfunded and poorly integrated. The paper presents models and case studies demonstrating how DRF tools can protect education access, planning, and recovery, and offers practical recommendations to align finance and education systems for better shock-responsiveness and resilience.

Fourteen-year-old Ruth used to wake up every morning wondering what she would learn at school. But when the terrorist group Boko Haram raided her village with guns drawn, her school became a place of danger.

In Kenya, initiatives like TeachWell are demonstrating the essential role of teacher training in improving educational outcomes in refugee communities.