USAID Contributes $4.1m to Education In Borno

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has announced the expansion of its Education Crisis Response activity into Borno state with a $4.1 million investment.

The gesture is aimed at providing assistance to nearly 60,000 internally displaced children and youth, ages 6 to 17, and their host communities.  This expansion into Borno state will further open 150 non-formal learning centres that will offer access to schooling to IDPs children and youth.

The USAID’s expansion of its Education Crisis Response activity into Borno is regarded a major milestone, as the ongoing conflict in the northeast has created a complex humanitarian and economic crisis affecting millions.

Insurgents have targeted schools in local communities, disrupting teaching, restricting children’s access to schooling, and placing significant stress on the communities hosting displaced families fleeing violence in their home areas.

USAID Mission Director Michael Harvey said in a statement that “The United States stands as a proud partner of the Nigerian people in their fight against violent extremism.  Borno state is the epicentre of that fight,” further adding that the US government will not shy away from its commitment to those hardest hit in the north east humanitarian crisis.

This expansion adds to the $130 million of USAID’s humanitarian activities in northeast Nigeria since 2014. Since early 2015, USAID’s Education Crisis Response activity has opened 408 non-formal learning centres, offering schooling to approximately 37,000 internally displaced children and youth.