Mercy’s Blessing – working with schools all over Luxembourg
15/01/2018
Mercy’s Blessing: campaign 2018 co-financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg!
07/02/2018It is with great joy that we share with you the news of another milestone reached in our development as an organization: the signature of our first Framework agreement (Accord Cadre), a four-year collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg.
For more than two decades, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg has supported our development projects and our vision. Today our heart is full of gratitude towards our local partners, for entrusting us with the financial support to their projects, and towards the Ministry, for their generous contribution, providing us the opportunity to carry our vision forward under one single development program entitled “Education and training for the integrated development of marginalized communities in rural and periurban areas”. In more concrete terms this means that starting 1st January 2018 until the end of 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has pledged 2.586.500,00 € (about 76% of the total budget) for our seven partners.
As pointed out by the Ministry: “It should also be noted that framework agreements are based on a coherent, results-oriented program approach aimed at concentrating resources for maximum impact.” With this in mind, our partners will continue their tireless work: to raise awareness in their communities on the importance of education, to continue training youth and adults (via teacher training programs and PSA) and to accompany community members in the implementation of social actions of various kinds. Although not all processes of positive community-led transformation can be quantified, we estimate that in the course of the next four years, in some 200 communities:
- more than 200 new community schools will be established, providing education to more than 13.000 children
- more than 500 individuals will be able to provide training to youths and adults
- about 5000 youth will receive training (PSA program, teacher teacher training program)
In addition, with our Framework Agreement, a new aspect has been integrated into our development program: the capitalization of the experiences and good practices developed by our local partners, in order to assist other local organizations working in similar contexts and tackling similar issues. The experience gained by Fondation AHDIEH and Bambino Foundation has allowed them to establish “training centers” for peer-associations interested in learning about the implementation of community schools. These two partners are accompanying nine and six such organizations in French/English-speaking African countries respectively. Although these other 15 organizations will not receive financial support from Unity Foundation, our support to the training centers will contribute to extending the reach of AHDIEH and Bambino’s experience beyond their national borders.
The approval of our Framework agreement was the results of about two years of intense work and was only possible thanks to the support and good collaboration with our local partners, the Ministry, and OSED. We thank you as well, our loyal supporters and donors, for your trust and we look forward to sharing with you the highlights for the next four years.
