One year on, the PEAK initiative is supporting 66 community-based organizations in Latin America, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa that are fostering the learning and development of children affected by pandemic-related disruptions to their education.

In 2022, with support from the LEGO Foundation, Global Fund for Children launched the Partnership to Educate All Kids (PEAK) initiative to support community-based organizations that are helping children who have experienced pandemic-related education disruptions access and thrive in learning environments that prepare them for future success.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing inequalities and had a profound impact on children’s learning. The effects of the pandemic were particularly devastating in low- and middle-income countries in Latin America, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, where the PEAK initiative is focused. Illiteracy rates in these regions are significantly higher than before the pandemic, with upwards of three-quarters of children unable to read at the age when they would usually finish primary school.

To identify partners for the initiative, GFC researched more than 350 organizations, visited 145, and selected 66 across 10 countries – Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Nepal, Uganda, and Zambia – as PEAK partners. The selected organizations are helping children to readjust to in-person learning, curb learning loss, and acquire skills that will enable them to become creative lifelong learners in a post-pandemic world.

[image_caption caption=”A drama display at Young Visionary Leaders Ghana’s World Children’s Day celebration. © Young Visionary Leaders Ghana” float=””]

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We provide PEAK partners with core flexible funding, capacity development, and opportunities for regional cross-partner networking and collaboration. PEAK partners carry out diverse work in their communities, and they use GFC funding for a wide range of activities to help children reengage in learning and play.

In Brazil’s northeastern region, for example, PEAK partner Instituto Mãe Lalu employs traditional children’s songs and circle dances to boost learning and pass on ancestral knowledge.

Young Visionary Leaders Ghana is engaging children in debate competitions and school clubs to develop their public speaking and advocacy skills and foster a love of learning.

Some PEAK partners in South Asia are motivating children to learn through sports. In India, Pro Sport Development uses a variety of sports as a tool for the holistic development of children and youth, particularly those from marginalized communities. In rural Nepal, Atoot builds girls’ confidence, leadership skills, and teamwork through soccer.

First-year reflections

As the PEAK initiative turns one year old, we reflect on what we have learned through implementing this alternative model for primary-education-related programming:

• Trust-based partnerships are critical to long-term change. Selecting over 60 new partners in less than 6 months for a single initiative was the largest-scale scouting effort GFC had ever completed, and it reinforced for us how relational and intense the process is. Scouting is when we make our first impression on our partners and begin to build the foundations of trust, so we emphasized listening deeply and showing care throughout the process.
• Flexible funding catalyzes innovation. Providing fully flexible funding is an important signal of our trust in our community-based partners’ work, and it gives them greater ability to innovate and adapt to the challenges facing children and youth on the ground. PEAK partners were selected because of the incredible work they are already doing, and much of our flexible funding goes toward supporting and strengthening their ongoing programming. Nevertheless, we are continuously delighted to find partners innovating and experimenting with new ideas. In just this first year, PEAK partners undertook 168 new activities or substantial programmatic changes in their work. Partners reported that 93% of these changes and activities were supported by GFC’s direct funding, site visits, exchanges with other GFC partners, or direct advising.
• Play-based learning goes far beyond advancing children’s educational outcomes. Partners are using play-based methodologies as tools to reclaim indigenous cultures, defy gender norms, and fight violence.
• Building and strengthening networks works! Grassroots organizations have an irreplaceable role in their local communities, but they also have a depth of wisdom, experience, legitimacy, and public interest that, when connected with others, can generate change far beyond their own immediate sphere of action. Though it takes time and persistence, GFC believes that the collective knowledge of grassroots networks can spread impactful ideas, strengthen community-based work, decentralize and shift power to local actors, and influence broad-based change.

[image_caption caption=”Children dancing and playing during an Instituto Mãe Lalu event called I Ciranda Literarte. © Instituto Mãe Lalu” float=””]

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Looking ahead

In the second year of the initiative, GFC will be disbursing almost $1 million in primary grants to PEAK partners, along with ongoing organizational development support. To expand and deepen networks, we are planning three regional convenings and will also offer collaboration grants for learning exchanges, joint activities, or other creative collaborations between PEAK partners across regions.

GFC and the PEAK partners are diving into this second year of the initiative with energy, enthusiasm, and creativity to learn while doing – or better put, while playing.

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Header photo: Pupils from St. Joseph’s High School at Jokalandi in Bhubaneswar, India warming up before a session. © Pro Sport Development.