DECEMBER 2021 - Several schools in majority of countries in Eastern and southern Africa were closed for many months/years due to COVID-19, keeping nearly 164 million children out of school. School reopening was delayed due to fear of putting children, teachers and caregivers at risk. UNICEF and WHO however strongly advocated for school re-opening and keeping schools open, even in communities with high rates of COVID-19, provided all adequate safety measures were in place. Although all countries have now re-opened schools, by October 2021 an estimated 32 million children were still out of school.

UNICEF has and continues to roll out a worldwide safe reopening and back to school (BTS) campaign to ensure that schools remain open, placing the needs of the most vulnerable children at the heart of that process.

As part of the Social and Behavior Change (SBC) agenda for education, UNICEF ESARO is supporting country offices to design, implement, monitor and document BTS SBC initiatives, focused on strengthening community engagement platforms.

An overview of the safe reopening and back to school SBC interventions in the region is contained in this compendium, with a spotlight on Madagascar, Kenya and Malawi.

Read the case studies here.