Qatar’s Trailblazers |
The issue in numbers
• 65.6 million people are forcibly
displaced by conflict and persecution
“The barriers include poverty, geography, all forms of
discrimination, infrastructure, poor quality education,
and conflict and disasters – these are all barriers that the
children did not create.”
Her work, which focuses on ‘hard-to-reach’ children, also
has much wider benefits, she explains. “In addition to
contributing to changing children’s lives, the programme
has helped families and teachers. It has brought the
global situation of out-of-school children into
sharper focus.
“It has shown how different approaches are needed for
different contexts, and it has broadened and deepened the
knowledge base about out-of-school children.”
Whether they are children living in remote rural
areas, such as the nomadic populations of Mali, or in
challenging natural environments, such as the flood plains
of Bangladesh, in severe poverty and sent to work in
Haiti, or in the conflict areas of Syria and Yemen and
nearby refugee camps, EAC aims to reach all out-of-
school children.
“Thanks to the vision and strength of our
foundation’s founder, Her Highness Sheikha
Moza bint Nasser, EAC has been able to carve
out a path to use a strong partnership model
to help children overcome the barriers that
prevent them from realising their right to a
quality primary education.”
Pigozzi has designed and led an ambitious and innovative
programme to support partners in identifying and
enrolling 10 million out of school children at the primary
level. Based in Qatar and with a small team, Pigozzi
built the necessary systems to manage and monitor over
65 projects in 50 countries. The team has received two
international awards for innovation in education, and
total funding for EAC projects has hit USD 1.4 billion.
•
More than half of the estimated
22 million refugees are under the
age of 18
• 61% of refugee children attend
primary school, compared to a
global average of 91%
Having previously worked on some of the most
critical issues in education, such as the expansion of
girl’s education, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, disrupted
schooling in conflict and post-conflict countries, and
overall access to quality education, Pigozzi is not fazed
by the challenges ahead.
She acknowledges that having such an ambitious target
has been hard, however. She says: “Days are long,
weekends are short, and often holidays are cancelled–
but it is worth it. I am concerned that we look not at
the 10 million target and see it as achieved. Now is
not the time to rest on our laurels – there are still 63
million out-of-school children at the primary level.
It is certainly satisfying work. She says: “Honestly, I am
humbled every day by the amazing commitment of the
many people who are so concerned for and dedicated
to out-of-school children the entire team in Education
Above All, starting with our CEO, Mr Fahad Al
Sulaiti, to each of our partners in 50 countries, to the
thousands and thousands of people on the ground who
work tirelessly in the projects.
“It has been a privilege to live here and begin to
better understand the generosity and ambition of this
country, to have been able to contribute to how it is
perceived overseas while having the chance to make
a difference in so many futures.”
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