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The Afar region in Ethiopia has been significantly affected by recurrent insecurity, including spillover violence from the northern conflict and intermittent clashes along regional borders, which continue to disrupt pastoralist livelihoods and heighten community vulnerability. Forced displacement and the destruction of infrastructure have left thousands of children without consistent access to education, with the significant emotional and social consequences this entails.
To address this situation, Ayuda en Acción, in collaboration with AISDA and with funding from the Basque Agency for Development Cooperation (AVCD) and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia (DFBizkaia), has launched an initiative to transform seven schools in the districts of Chifra, Ewa and Gulina into safe, violence-free learning spaces.
Recreational kits to reactivate schools
The project has included the distribution of recreational kits — footballs, volleyballs, skipping ropes, storybooks and board games — which have helped restore previously damaged school grounds. According to teachers, these resources have significantly increased student enthusiasm and improved attendance.
Beyond the material component, structured play activities are contributing to psychosocial recovery: teachers report a reduction in aggressive behaviour and an improvement in classroom coexistence. In total, 3,953 students have benefited from the intervention.
The testimony of a family from Ewa Woreda
Sofia Mohammed, a sixth-grade student at Huletgna Badule school, is one of the project's beneficiaries. Her family was displaced by the conflict and, for months, her mother did not feel safe sending her back to school. Today, the situation has changed: "My children feel safe and excited to go to school every day," she says. Sofia herself confirms it: "Volleyball and all the games at school are so much fun! I love going to school!"
Education in conflict zones is a right that is too often suspended precisely when it is needed most. Initiatives like this one demonstrate that restoring it is possible — and that its effects reach far beyond the classroom.
