18/06/2026
🎙️ Today, as we approach World Refugee Day, our Executive Director, Maria Lucia Uribe, participated in the Innovations in Education for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons webinar, organized by Unesco International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa - IICBA, UNICEF, African Union, Global Partnership for Education, Japan - The Government of Japan, and others.
In her presentation, she highlighted a critical truth: when children are exposed to conflict, violence, and prolonged stress, their ability to learn is disrupted. That is why academic recovery and psychosocial healing must go hand in hand.
In emergency and displacement contexts, education is often treated as a secondary service, paused until basic needs are met. 👉But education is a protective, lifesaving intervention. For a child displaced by crisis, a safe school environment drastically reduces the risk of trafficking, child labor, exploitation, and early marriage.
🏫 What makes a classroom truly protective?
A school's physical existence isn't enough. To truly protect, it must empower. For refugee and displaced children, a safe learning environment restores normalcy and connection. It is a space where diversity is valued, and where every child feels:
✔️ Seen and heard: Having the space to express thoughts, ask questions, and contribute to solutions.
✔️ Emotionally secure: Finding stability, routine, and supportive relationships.
✔️ Nurtured holistically: Supporting a child's cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual development; fostering their capacity for meaning-making, ethical reflection, compassion, and inner strength.
➡️ The Path Forward: Investing in teachers & transformative pedagogy
To transform these environments, we must urgently invest in the people on the front lines: our teachers. This means strengthening their professional competencies while deeply supporting their own well-being, equipping them with practical tools to manage the complex emotional realities children bring into the classroom.
At Arigatou International, this is driven through a Transformative Pedagogy: moving beyond the simple transmission of information to engage learners through active dialogue, reflection, and community action.
Through our Ethics Education for Children initiative, we see firsthand how these approaches nurture essential competencies like empathy, critical thinking, and peaceful conflict transformation.
📣 She finished with a call to action: "If we are serious about leaving no child behind, we must embrace a vision of education that nurtures the whole child. Only then can we equip them not just to recover from adversity, but to help build the peaceful, inclusive, and resilient societies of tomorrow".
