EDC to Lead Effort to Support 2.9 Million Children, Youth in Uganda

EDC has been selected by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement the Integrated Child and Youth Development (ICYD) activity, a five-year effort to improve education, health, and social protection for 2.9 million children and youth in Uganda.

EDC is partnering with the Bantwana Initiative of World Education, Inc., Arizona State University, Redearth Education, School-to-School International (STS), and Resonance to support the Government of Uganda’s efforts to better align and deliver social services for young people.

“ICYD provides a significant opportunity to align services and improve outcomes for millions of young Ugandans, and we are excited to be engaged in this important work,” says EDC’s Megan Thomas, ICYD home office project director.

Through ICYD, EDC and its partners are implementing a range of comprehensive health and education activities, addressing some of Uganda’s most persistent challenges. These include:

• Supporting the retention of high-risk girls, children living with HIV, and other eligible orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in primary school
• Promoting literacy by developing literacy materials, providing teacher professional development, and engaging the community
• Facilitating in- and out-of-school HIV prevention activities for children and adolescents
• Supporting HIV epidemic control by delivering a comprehensive OVC service package through four local partners
• Addressing primary school retention and transition to secondary school or work
• Connecting out-of-school children and youth with accelerated or alternative education and workforce development services
• Strengthening systems at the national, district, and community levels to deliver essential services to children and their families

While the project will support a wide range of children and adolescents as well as their teachers, parents, and caregivers, ICYD’s primary beneficiaries will be adolescents aged 9–14, especially girls.

“Children are born curious, and to quench the thirst of their curiosity, they must drink from the ocean of education,” says Eileen Mokaya, chief of party, USAID ICYD project. “ICYD aims to strengthen sustained quality basic education and improved health outcomes for children in Uganda. Through this project, we believe these children will be set on the road to realizing their full potential.”