Education and Coexistence Project (E&C) Quarterly Report Q3 FY2022

The project's main purpose is to contribute to social cohesion through the transformation of schools into Comprehensive Centers for Peaceful Coexistence within the community. FEPADE is implementing E&C through three operational areas: Education, Social Cohesion, and Alliances. The Education area works directly with public schools participating in the project to provide them with the tools, methodologies, and infrastructure necessary to strengthen their capacity to become Comprehensive Centers for Peaceful-coexistence. The project focuses on training principals and teachers to build upon their capacity to be significant positive role players in their students' lives. This includes providing teachers with tools to contribute to healthy coexistence in the schools, developing the socioemotional skills of teachers and students, and facilitating access to materials created by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MINEDUCYT). The Social Cohesion area is developing and implementing strategies to strengthen the social fabric of the communities surrounding the schools. This includes empowering community members and providing them with the skills and knowledge to manage their own community projects successfully, reconstructing their sense of belonging to the community, and drawing them closer to the schools to become active players within the education community. The project has incorporated workshops to raise awareness on the dangers of irregular migration and continues promoting activities in community that encourage participants to take ownership of their localities and implement activities that create safer spaces of coexistence. The Alliances area encompasses the project's efforts to establish public-private partnerships that promote social cohesion in education communities. This area is working to obtain leverage contributions from the private sector to consolidate and expand the scope, efficiency, and sustainable impact of education and social cohesion activities carried out by the project. The project has been extended for three additional years, with a new expected end date on March 14, 2026, and the project budget was doubled, reaching $40 million dollars in total. During the quarter, an emphasis was placed on the importance of mitigating the psychological effects of the pandemic, targeting activities mainly on students and teachers and the management of socioemotional skills. The coordinated work from both areas resulted in the provision of more than 11,000 services. The project continues to garner the trust of investors and allies, with several previous partners recommitting funding to enhance the impact of the project in existing corridors.