Strengthening education systems during and after times of adversity: Highlights from USAID’s Education and Resilience White Paper

• In Event: Reflections on resilience-focussed approaches within education programming

Proposal

Across USAID, resilience—defined as the ability of people, households, communities, countries, and systems to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from shocks and stresses in a manner that reduces chronic vulnerability and facilitates inclusive growth—has become a priority for the Agency (USAID, 2012). The 2019 USAID Policy Framework, for instances, stresses the importance of resilience for ensuring that the journey to self-reliance, and Agency investments in this process, are not unduly compromised in the face of complex crises and natural disasters. This focus on resilience is also reflected in USAID education programs at present. The USAID Education Policy (2018) argues that, “Education in partner countries must have the capacity to embed effective approaches to improving learning and education outcomes, to innovate, and to withstand shocks and stresses,” if the aim is to support sustained improvements in learning outcomes and equitable access for all learners (p. 17).
To explore what this means for USAID and its education sector partners moving forward, a White Paper was commissioned, written and released in 2019. The White Paper sought to provide: (1) an overview of global and Agency thinking and practice on education and resilience and (2) a foundation and justification for positioning USAID education efforts more concretely within a resilience frame. This presentation, from the author of the White Paper, seeks to highlight some of the key findings and recommendations stemming from this work. It focusses on firstly, presenting a conceptual framework for understanding how resilience operates through and within the education sector and program interventions. Secondly, some of the key considerations for developing and supporting USAID education programs with a resilience lens or focus are shared.

Author

• Ritesh Shah, University of Auckland