Programme overview

Educating the Children of Darfur is a response to the events that have been unfolding since 2003 when, as a result of armed attacks against them by local militia, the people of the Sudan’s Darfur region fled their homeland and sought refuge in the neighboring country of Chad. While the refugees’ subsistence needs have largely been met, the refugee children have had, until recently, limited access to primary school education.

That has begun to change now that PwC has joined forces with UNHCR in a multi-year effort to bring the essentials of a primary school education to 20,000 refugee children between the ages of 6 to 14. The project got underway with a campaign that raised more than US$4 million in contributions from PwC people and member firms.

Those funds are currently being put to use in the construction of 4 new schools, with 8 classrooms each, spread across four of the 12 refugee camps established in Eastern Chad by UNHCR. But building a brick-and-mortar school infrastructure is not the sole aim of the project. Equally important to the project’s goals is improving the core competencies of the schools’ teachers through training and supportive supervision. A third aim is to provide refugee children who are about to graduate primary school with guidance in seeking either employment or opportunities to further their education.

While of immense value in itself, the educational infrastructure arising in the camps also plays a vital role in safeguarding children and promoting their well-being. By offering structure and stability and by disseminating messages of assurance and support, these schools provide the children with a safe haven from the violence and desolation that otherwise surrounds them.

The protective function that education serves in the lives of children has been codified in many international conventions and agreements and also informs PwC’s own approach to the promotion of education, which is a major area of focus in our program of corporate responsibility initiatives.

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Quick facts

Four refugee camps, 28,000 children
and 600 teachers over 3 years

The average European uses more than 140 litres of water a day. The refugees are only given 7 litres per day for all of their water needs

15,000 children of primary school age are out of school

Chad is a landlocked country in Central Africa

Chad is currently home to 280,000 refugees from the Darfur region in Sudan

A combination of drought, desertification and overpopulation are among the causes of conflict in Darfur

The Darfur conflict has left 500,000 dead from violence and disease

The Power of 10 campaign raised US $4 million for 'Educating the children of Darfur

Refugee children are subject to child-labour if they are not in school

47% of the population in Chad is under 15 years of age

Recommended ratio: 1 security person for every 850 refugees

In most refugee camps there is only 1 communal latrine per 30 – 40 people

90 potential teachers have been videotaped by a Chadian camera crew

Refugees dream too, surveys show they want to be doctors, nurses, politicians, singers, sportsman, lawyers and journalists

Education is the first kind of assistance requested by refugees to become self-reliant

In Northern Sudan, the price for a bride is 20 – 50 camels

Football for boys and volleyball and netball for girls are preferred sports in the camps