Global Initiative Bi-weekly site updates

       

                                                                                                 July 09th to July 24, 2025

Kenya

Kenya’s flagship refugee integration plan runs into local opposition

In March this year, the Kenyan government unveiled a comprehensive plan to transform the country’s refugee camps into self-reliant, integrated settlements, allowing refugees and host communities to live and work side by side – a significant shift from the restrictive and aid-dependent encampment policies of the past. 

The Shirika Plan aims to fold the refugee camps of Dadaab and Kakuma into municipalities administered by the respective counties of Garissa and Turkana, who will eventually take over service delivery from UN agencies and NGOs. The municipalities will be able to attract infrastructural funding to kick-start economic opportunities, uplifting host communities and refugees alike. Both the government and the UN refugee agency UNHCR celebrate Shirika as a landmark initiative that will build inclusion and independence for Kenya’s more than 840,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers.

Kakuma (Kenya) : a brutal categorization of refugees in a climate of widespread insecurity

Kakuma, July 11, 2025 – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently carried out a social categorization of all refugees in the Kakuma camp in northwest Kenya. This move, according to the UN agency, aims to adapt the humanitarian assistance to the context of reduced funding.

From now on, only refugees considered “very vulnerable” will continue to receive aid. This controversial measure, strongly opposed by the refugees themselves, who denounce a discriminatory and inhumane policy in a climate already marked by growing insecurity. All refugees in the camp are now divided into four categories. Only the first two, considered the most vulnerable, will continue to receive regular humanitarian assistance, particularly food. More than 70% of the refugees, the vast majority of the approximately 200,000 people living in Kakuma – including more than 25,000 Burundians – are therefore expected to fend for themselves. The UNHCR and the Kenyan government claim to want to encourage self-reliance by encouraging refugees to start small income-generating activities : businesses, agriculture, crafts, etc. The World Food Program (WFP), the UNHCR’s main partner in food aid, has been implementing this new policy since July.

Strengthening Refugee Voices: Strengthening Media and Information Literacy in Kakuma

Located in Turkana County in Northern Kenya, Kakuma refugee camp and Kalobeyei settlement host over 300,000 refugees and asylum seekers from more than 20 countries. This diversity in the camp presents the growing challenge of the spread of mis/disinformation, negatively affecting social cohesion and eroding public trust among the refugees and with the host community.

In the past, spread of rumors led to violent confrontation between South Sudanese tribes within the camp. More recently, is the COVID-19 pandemic which was characterized by several misleading information within the camp, causing widespread anxiety and fear. In her opening remarks in the training on the International Day for Countering Hate Speech on June 18, Ms. Sylvia Adongo from UNESCO highlighted the organization’s role in advancing media and information literacy skills, through research, online courses and publications created for use by journalists and content creators in their work. She underscored the vital role of media in promoting peace, countering mis/disinformation and hate speech, especially in vulnerable settings like refugee camps.

Rwanda

Rwanda partners with State University of New York to boost higher education

A new education partnership to boost academic growth between the State University of New York (SUNY) and Rwandan universities, was launched on Friday, July 18.

A delegation from the largest comprehensive public university system in the United States comprising 64 institutions, visited Rwanda for two days beginning from July 17 to 18. The team was led by Steven Kolison, the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost.They met with officials from the Ministry of Education, as well as leaders from the University of Rwanda and private universities. The discussions focused on academic cooperation under the 'SUNY Africa Initiative.' The collaboration aims to foster partnerships in key areas such as student and faculty exchanges, joint research, academic programme development, professional development for staff, and co-curricular programming.

Seven things to know about Rwanda’s new learning pathways

Rwanda is set to introduce three newly structured learning pathways in secondary schools, a reform aimed at equipping students with skills and knowledge that better align with academic advancement and the demands of the job market.

The Ministry of Education on Friday, June 20, announced plans to phase out the traditional Advanced Level subject combinations and replace them with more flexible, holistic learning models. The initiative, which is expected to be rolled out in phases, will begin with Senior 4 students. Speaking to The New Times, Flora Mutezigaju, the Deputy Director General  of Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB), students currently in Senior 5 and Senior 6 will continue with the existing subject combinations until they complete the cycle.

Lebanon

Syrian returns from Lebanon to start under UN-backed plan, marking major shift

Thousands of Syrian refugees are set to return from Lebanon this week under the first, U.N.-backed plan providing financial incentives, after Syria's new rulers said all citizens were welcome home despite deep war damage and security concerns.

Returning Syrians will be provided with $100 each in Lebanon and $400 per family upon arrival in Syria, Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said. Transport is also covered and fees have been waived by border authorities, she said. "I think it's a good and important start. We have discussed and are coordinating this with our Syrian counterparts and I think the numbers will increase in the coming weeks," Sayed told Reuters. A Syrian interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Some 11,000 have registered to return from Lebanon in the first week, and the government targets between 200,000 and 400,000 returns this year under the plan, Sayed said. 

Israeli air strikes kill 12 in eastern Lebanon despite ceasefire

Israeli air strikes have killed at least 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon, according to Lebanese state media reports, in what Israel said was a warning to the armed group against trying to re-establish itself.

Eight other people were wounded on Tuesday in the Israeli air strikes that hit the Wadi Fara area in the northern Bekaa Valley, including a camp for displaced Syrians, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.The Israeli military said its air strikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses the group used to store weapons. The air strikes were the deadliest on the area since a United States-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel last November – a truce repeatedly violated by Israel, which has carried out near-daily strikes across parts of the country.

Malawi

Malawi’s Refugee Crisis Deepens as UNHCR Scales Back Support

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is scaling back its presence at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in central Malawi, following severe funding shortages that have forced a reduction in food assistance, healthcare, and other essential programs. 

Where once tens of thousands relied on these core services, now over 57,000 residents, mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi, are left facing growing uncertainty. With the camp stretched far beyond its intended capacity, both humanitarian agencies and local authorities are under increasing pressure. Dzaleka Refugee Camp was established in 1994 to accommodate people fleeing violence in the Great Lakes region. Initially designed to accommodate approximately 10,000 people, it has grown into Malawi’s only official refugee camp, hosting more than five times its intended population. 

Vietnam

Taiwan, Vietnam expand educational cooperation

Taiwan and Vietnam signed an updated version of an educational cooperation agreement July 11 in Taipei City, marking another milestone in the bilateral relationship.According to the Ministry of Education, Liu Shih-chung, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam, and his Vietnamese counterpart, Phan Kieu Chung, met to sign the document. It is an extension of a similar pact between the two sides from 2017.

The updated agreement covers a wide range of domains, such as establishing sister school relationships, offering scholarships for students and teachers to attend workshops, and implementing language-learning projects. During the signing ceremony, MOE Chief Secretary Lin Po-chiao said Taiwan and Vietnam have undertaken a raft of cooperative projects based on the bilateral agreements of 2006 and 2017. These include around 1,000 exchange agreements between tertiary institutions of both countries, as well as Taiwan’s sending of Mandarin instructors to Vietnam.

 

Leadership is key to Viet Nam’s education transformation

On 17th July 2025, UNESCO released the Vietnamese translation of its flagship Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2024/5, titled “Leadership in Education: Lead for Learning.” The launch took place at the occasion of the event on teacher policies co organized by the Ministry of Education and Training and UNESCO Hanoi Office to mark the adoption of the first-ever Law on Teachers in Viet Nam. The report highlights how leadership, at school and system levels, is key to improving education outcomes, particularly as the region grapples with learning challenges. Globally, 251 million children and youth are out of school, including 18 million in Southeast Asia. While access has improved in recent decades, progress has slowed or stagnated in many countries. Learning levels have also declined in some middle- and high-income nations.

South America

Real Stories That Are Transforming Digital Education in Latin America

In Latin America, talking about digital education doesn’t always mean talking about the future. Unfortunately, it often means talking about inequality, unstable connections, schools with limited resources, and teachers doing a lot with very little.

And yet, it also means talking about ingenuity, commitment and innovation—qualities that, let’s be honest, rarely make the headlines. To help change this narrative, the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the ProFuturo Foundation launched the Second Mapping of Good Practices in Digital Education in the Americas. The call for submissions gathered 179 initiatives from 17 countries, with a clear goal: to identify, document and share educational initiatives that are using technology in pedagogically meaningful and transformative ways.

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