World Learning and Porticus Partner to Strengthen Coping Skills for Children

Publication Date: February 28, 2022
Publication Location: WASHINGTON
Contact: Abby Henson   |   [email protected]

World Learning and Porticus launched a new project to provide social and emotional support to children in Lebanon. Porticus is a Netherlands-based philanthropic organization that works with partners towards a just and sustainable future for all in education, society, faith, and climate. 

Porticus has awarded World Learning a grant through the Education in Emergencies: Evidence for Action project. This new funding supports the implementation of the USAID QITABI 2 project and allows World Learning to build on its expertise in education program implementation with a focus on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).

For the “Towards a Social and Emotional Learning Policy for Children in Lebanon” project, World Learning is creating an SEL roadmap to strengthen Lebanon’s national and local education systems. This framework will equip policymakers to shape national SEL guidelines that positively impact more than 440,000 students across the country. 

A requirement of the framework is that it meets the needs of students, educators, and community members. World Learning is soliciting feedback from a broad range of stakeholders, which it will then use to analyze the current SEL programming in Lebanon. World Learning will also create a mechanism for stakeholders to collaborate on best practices. 

“Continuing and compounding crises in Lebanon require novel approaches to enhancing coping and life skills among schoolchildren,” Nadine Richani, regional director for Porticus MENA says. “Programs addressing psychological support and social and emotional learning for children are a critical first step.” 

“In recent years, Lebanon has experienced economic crises and political instability, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 explosion at the Port of Beirut. This has taken a toll on Lebanon’s primary students, especially children from low-income families,” says Dr. Wafa Kotob, chief of party, QITABI 2, and country representative, World Learning Lebanon. 

World Learning has provided technical expertise in Lebanon for nearly a decade on projects which expand access to education and improve learning outcomes in public schools.

World Learning is a global organization made up of School for International Training, offering accredited undergraduate study abroad programs through SIT Study Abroad and internationally focused master’s degrees, certificate programs, and a doctorate through its SIT Graduate Institute; The Experiment in International Living, the nation’s most experienced provider of intercultural exchange programs abroad and virtual for high school students; and World Learning, a global development and exchange nonprofit organization. The organization is now in its 90^th year delivering international education, cultural exchanges, and sustainable development. For more information, visit www.worldlearning.org.