NRC Lebanon and UNESCO Beirut (Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States) hosted a seminar on the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction on 12 and 13 August in Beirut.
INEE was represented by Jennifer Hofmann, INEE Coordinator for Minimum Standards, who co-facilitated the event along with Helge Brochmann, UNESCO (on secondment from NRC), and Dean Brooks, NRC Lebanon.
The seminar brought together approximately 30 education practitioners from UNESCO, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNRWA, ILO, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, Norwegian People’s Aid, Naba’a (Development Action without Borders), the Italian Embassy, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the local media. The seminar focused on the application of the INEE Minimum Standards to support access to quality education for all children in Lebanon, including Palestinian and Iraqi refugees. NRC’s involvement included co-sponsorship as well as facilitation of sessions on the following topics:
Additional topics such as disaster risk reduction and inter-agency coordination were discussed and action plans developed in regards to workshop follow-up, setting up a national education coordination mechanism, and outreach to the Ministry of Education and donors advocating for their greater involvement in education in emergencies. Overall, this seminar represented the opportunity to develop a cohesive response to emergency education in Lebanon through future collaboration and coordination between agencies.
The INEE Minimum Standards Handbook is now being updated in consultation with agencies and individual members around the world (planned release of the revised handbook is scheduled for 2010). NRC participated in the Lebanon consultation the day after the workshop to provide feedback and suggestions for improvement.
For more information on the INEE and the Minimum Standards please visit www.ineesite.org