THE German government has, through KfW Development Bank, contributed ₧15 million to the second phase of the Education Development Fund (EDF) to improve access to quality education for children in Zimbabwe.
BY OWN CORRESPONDENT
Germany has been one of the major contributors to EDF since its inception in 2010 with an overall engagement of ₧61 million. Already during the first phase (2011-2015), Germany donated ₧32 million. For the second phase (2016-2020) Germany provides ₧29 million, including this new grant. The support is meant to sustain the gains in the education sector against the challenging Zimbabwean social and economic environment.
“The activities supported through German funding are of a strategic nature, and are designed to achieve sustainable, system-wide impacts that benefit all children, with a particular focus on those children who are most disadvantaged,” Unicef representative, Mohamed Ayoya said early this week.
The funds will be used to support the school improvement grants, including school feeding and income generating activities, the development of disaster risk management strategies and policies, provision of reliable access to water and sanitation services for schools, and the implementation of the new curriculum.
The EDF is expected to continue to support children with disabilities, provide services to the most disadvantaged schools and strengthen school communities’ resilience to the impact of climate change as well as their capacity to respond to disasters and emergencies in an appropriate and timely manner.
