July 21, 2025
Livelihoods
Multiple barriers to equitable opportunities for accessible, quality, and holistic skill development negatively affect youth across the world. In recent years, crises, conflicts and pandemics have disrupted and destabilised social, economic and political systems. Climate change has impacted traditional livelihoods, and cultural norms limit opportunities for women and girls. Female small-holder farmers in the global south comprise 70-80% of the agricultural labour force, and they drive food processing, marketing and produce the bulk of food for domestic consumption. Their labour drives major markets for produce.
As a result, access to relevant formal and non-formal learning opportunities for these youth, which could support their livelihoods, is oftentimes limited and inequitable. There is insufficient knowledge on mitigating against and managing the effects of climate shocks, which is weakening youth and community resilience to longer periods of droughts and flooding. In rural communities, frequent drought and flooding disrupt and impact agriculture and access to livelihoods, including fishing, livestock, tailoring, and small businesses more broadly. Displacement in urban and semi-urban areas has further weakened economic and social safety nets, leaving youth vulnerable to change, shocks and stresses. Many adolescents and youth, particularly women and girls, struggle to access lines of credit, training, and relevant technology to support themselves.
Our innovative projects equip youth aged 18-24, primarily in climate-affected geographies with vocational, literacy, and life skills, including financial literacy, entrepreneurship, technical and vocational livelihood skills, health and hygiene (including menstrual hygiene management), while also integrating economic recovery pathways to build resilience and ensure sustainable development. Trainees participate in training which will develop their climate adaptation-related vocational, literacy, numeracy, and life skills knowledge, to strengthen their ability to be resilient to new challenges. The innovation integrates education, health, environmental health (WASH), and economic recovery and development (ERD) sector interventions. The programme can also be complemented by the provision of access to clean water and participation in Village Savings and Loans Associations' activities.
Projects:
Livelihoods and Learn to Earn Plus (L2E+) with IRC, Nigeria
Internet Free Education Resource Bank (IFERB)
Despite global efforts to expand access to education, millions of children in low-resource settings remain excluded from engaging in hands-on learning experiences due to a lack of cost-effective, technology-free solutions. Traditional instruction often fails to foster deep learning or build 21st-century skills, particularly where digital infrastructure is limited. There is an urgent need for scalable, experiential learning models that work without internet or devices, and that empower children through meaningful, active participation in their own learning.
The Internet-Free Education Resource Bank (IFERB) is a curated bank of 550+ open-source, project- and play-based learning resources for children aged 3–13. These resources are aligned with national curricula and designed to be cost-free, engaging, and student-led. They promote experiential and hands-on learning across literacy, numeracy, science, social studies, SEL, physical education, and the arts. IFERB also includes specialised resources such as math games, Arabic storybooks, multi-subject learning packages, and an Activity Bank for children with disabilities. All materials are technology-free once downloaded, adaptable to different learning levels, and available in 14 underserved languages. This makes the Bank itself a flexible, foundational learning toolkit, especially in low-resource environments. The IFERB website includes an integrated AI-powered chatbot (FERBY).
IFERB aims to be more than just a content repository, instead offering a scalable learning solution that has been implemented in 11 countries with 18 partners across a wide variety of settings. The IFERB solution refers to how the content is used: through delivery models tailored to each context. These include classroom-based instruction, community-based learning, phone-supported home learning, radio broadcasts, and use in refugee or emergency settings. It also includes technical guidance, training, and MEL framework tools that enable educators, governments, and partners to contextualise and use the resources effectively.
To date, IFERB has reached over 5.5 million children, with more than 70% of partners continuing implementation after pilot support. The Bank enhances not only student learning outcomes but also teacher practices, community engagement, and national policy alignmentcreating both content innovation and a systems-level solution.
Projects:
IFERB in India with Bharti Foundation
IFERB in India with Mantra Social Services
Implementing EAA Foundation’s Internet Free Education Resource Bank (IFERB) in Sri Lanka
Dignitas and EAA Foundation’s Internet Free Education Resource Bank (IFERB)
Digi-Wise
With 71% of children aged 10 to 14 in LMICs now using mobile phones, the rapid rise of misinformation presents a critical threat, as highlighted in the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2024. AI exacerbates existing risks to mental well-being, child protection, radicalisation, and more in the digital age. This leaves children vulnerable to manipulation and ill-prepared to navigate digital environments that they are increasingly engaging with.
A landscape scan conducted by EAA Foundation of existing interventions reveals that most high-quality solutions, though promising, fall short on key areas: they are rarely cost-free and open-source, require stable internet access and personal devices and are typically designed for a Western audience. Digi-Wise seeks to fill this gap by offering a learning experience for children that is cost-free, context-responsive, open-source, and offline-accessible in under-connected settings.
Digi-Wise is an innovative learning experience for 11 to 14-year-olds designed by EAA and experts in the field to empower children to critically evaluate, consume, and produce content in the age of AI. Fostering digital literacy and critical thinking, it equips learners with the skills to navigate technology and social media responsibly, ensuring they thrive in an increasingly interconnected and information-driven world.
Digi-Wise is organised as modules, each containing about 4 to 5 lesson plans, each about 40 minutes long. The modules are focused on specific aspects of digital media and AI literacy, such as tackling misinformation, building fair social media algorithms, exploring self-esteem in the digital age, exploring AI and human rights, and many more. Some modules will be available for offline use and can be chosen and implemented based on needs and available resources. Local partners can contextualise Digi-Wise for relevance and diverse modes of implementation (in-school, out-of-school, etc.)
Projects:
Digi-Wise: Cultivating Digital Intelligence in Peru
Sports for Education
Inequitable access to education and community inclusion remain significant barriers in LMICs. Despite its potential, sport is underutilised as a transformative tool to drive equity, inclusion, and educational outcomes.
The initiative, ‘Circle In’, aims to leverage sport as a catalyst for development, led by EAA Foundation, Qatar Foundation (QF), and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This will be done by forming a consortium of partners who co-develop innovative solutions that use sport to create more equitable, inclusive, and educated communities, fostering positive social change and enhancing educational outcomes across Asia and MENA.
Projects:
Circle In
