End Violence Fund: Safe to Learn projects (2020-2021)
Investing in proven solutions to keep children safe in and through schools
Safe to Learn funded a series of projects to prevent and respond to violence in and around schools, supported through the End Violence Fund, a former financing mechanism of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children. These investments supported the implementation of the Safe to Learn Call to Action by strengthening education systems, improving school-level prevention and response, empowering children and communities, and generating evidence to inform policy and practice.
Between 2020 and 2021, Safe to Learn supported two rounds of projects across Cambodia, Lebanon, Nepal, South Sudan and Uganda, with financial contributions from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
Why these projects were funded
These projects tested and scaled context-specific, evidence-based approaches that strengthen prevention, reporting, and response to violence, while building the capacity of teachers, school leaders, children, families, and education systems.
Together, the projects addressed key priorities of the Safe to Learn Call to Action, including policy and systems strengthening, positive discipline, social and behaviour change, and the use of data and evidence.
Safe to Learn / End Violence Fund investments
Round 1: Nepal and Uganda (May 2020 – March 2021)
Five organizations were supported to deliver school-based violence prevention projects aligned with Safe to Learn priorities.
Nepal
- Mercy Corps implemented the Blossom Project, supporting safer school policies, teacher capacity on safeguarding and positive discipline, student participation, and community engagement.
- VSO strengthened government school systems, empowered children and parents on safety, and built teacher capacity in gender-responsive approaches.
- World Education expanded its Schools as Zones of Peace model, promoting positive discipline, youth leadership, and community-based violence prevention.
Uganda
- Raising Voices strengthened and expanded use of the Good School Toolkit, supporting positive discipline, student engagement, and safer school cultures.
- Right to Play used play-based approaches to strengthen school child protection mechanisms, build teacher capacity, and engage communities in creating safer learning environments.
Round 2: Cambodia, Lebanon and South Sudan (October 2020 – December 2021)
A second round of funding expanded Safe to Learn-supported programming to additional contexts.
- Cambodia – Save the Children (with World Vision and Plan International): Supported evidence-based approaches to reduce violence in schools, working with the Ministry of Education to strengthen child protection policies, pilot school-based protection mechanisms, improve safeguarding and data systems, and empower children to speak up against violence.
- Lebanon – International Alert: Strengthened violence prevention and response in schools and learning centres through safeguarding policies, teacher training, child rights education, and community advocacy.
- South Sudan – International Rescue Committee (IRC): Addressed violence through social norms and behaviour change, positive parenting and discipline, school safeguarding policies, and community-based child protection networks.
What these projects achieved
Across countries and contexts, these Safe to Learn projects strengthened education systems and school practices to prevent and respond to violence in and around schools. They built the capacity of teachers and school leaders to apply safeguarding measures and positive discipline, and empowered children and young people to play an active role in creating safer learning environments.
The projects also engaged families and communities to support child protection beyond the school gates and generated evidence that informed national policy dialogue, programming, and future investment.
These investments demonstrate how targeted, time-bound funding can deliver practical, scalable solutions that support every child can learn in safety.