Tomorrow today; 2010 - unesdoc - Unesco

Helping people take control of their destinyHassan Ahmad and Siti Sayadi, Mercy Relief, SingaporeEducation policymakers and implementers often promisethat education will bring about a better future for thosewho embrace it. Yet in a Sumatran province, more than100,000 university graduates are unemployed. What are theeffects on these unemployed graduates who have invested time,money and hope in pursuit of that better future?Education initiatives provide a level of expectancy aimed atcapacity-building and sustainability, empowering beneficiaries totransform their environment for a better quality of life. They alsoprovide rural communities with the psychological tools to understand,appreciate and acknowledge other peripheral developmentalrequirements to change the conditions of their lives. Thereforegiven that education is both the means and the deliverable to attainsustainable development, it is imperative that humanitarian implementersunderstand the primary needs and outlook of rural anddisaster-affected communities in assessing their ability to appreciateand apply education to their lives.Mercy Relief adopts an innovative, socially inclusive perspectiveon education for sustainable development, with a thematic emphasison capacity-building at the community level, whilst complementingeach country’s own educational investments andnational policies.Education programmes foster a learning culture incommunities, empowering them to make their ownchoices and decisions for their developmental needsduring peacetime and in the aftermath of calamity. Asa relief and development organization, Mercy Reliefsees education as the catalyst that helps communitiesto become the uplifting force behind their owndestiny. Therefore education programmes are implementedwith expansionary and pre-emptive strategiesfor longer-term development, including disaster riskmitigation philosophies.Immediate versus longer-term needsHaving served disaster-stricken, impoverished anddisadvantaged communities in 19 countries over thelast seven years, Mercy Relief have seen that in thesecommunities, immediate, subjective, simple personalneeds prevail over longer-term or less urgent communalneeds.Image: Mercy ReliefImage: Mercy ReliefSumatra, Indonesia – Unemployed graduates, who have invested their time andmoney, now bored and frustrated – a potential recipe for social problemsZambales, Philippines – Mangrove planting for coastal rehabilitation andprotection leads to enhanced livelihood output for fishermen and coastalcommunities. Parents can now afford to send their children to school[ 160 ]