EPGO (III) Educating people, generating opportunities

Education, employment and humanitarian aid for the most vulnerable people

After 18 years of partnership with Inditex, in 2022 ended the third agreement of “Educating people, Generating opportunities III” (EPGO III) program, which has responded to the basic needs of 200.093 persons. As fundamental pillars of the project, we have focused mainly on the promotion of inclusive education, training for employment and humanitarian aid to the displaced population, all of this together with our local partner organizations, mainly Fe y Alegría, the Jesuit Service to Refugees, as well as Red Mimbre – Fundación Maresa and the Jesuit Service to Migrants in Spain.

As in previous programs, we have worked in Mexico, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Lebanon and South Africa; also incorporating actions in Spain as a novelty.

The program was strongly marked by the Covid-19 crisis that erupted three months after its inception, in March 2020. This made it necessary to make adjustments to many of the projects in order to address existing vulnerability situations and to respond to the new needs identified, which mainly affected people from contexts at risk of social exclusion where we work.

At the Colombian Borders, 2018-2021

Support to the displaced, refugee, and returnee population.

Continuing the joint work between Inditex, JRS LAC and Entreculturas, between 2018 and 2021 we carried out the fourth phase of the program in order to tackle the situation of displaced persons and refugees in Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. In this period, we accompanied and assisted 34,757 people who are victims of the armed conflict in Colombia, returnees, people in need of international protection, host communities, and migrants from Venezuela in situations of extreme vulnerability and social risk.

To respond to these challenges and the new migratory dynamics in the region, we have focused on two strategic lines: Integral Humanitarian Action, to provide an immediate response to the reestablishment of the minimum rights necessary to guarantee people’s dignity, and Education, with emphasis on education for peace, reconciliation and violence prevention. We also worked on Institutional strengthening, as well as Advocacy and Communication in a cross-cutting manner, ensuring the incorporation of the gender perspective in all our actions.

Response to Covid-19 in South Africa

Mitigation of the COVID-19 among the most vulnerable population.

The spread of the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa has hit the most vulnerable population the most; the social and economic effects on the livelihoods of these households have been devastating. The restrictions carried out by the Government were especially harsh on asylum and refugee seekers, who focus their economy on the informal sector and are excluded from government aid.
Through an integrated response, the project emerged from the emergency focused on the mitigation of the economic effects of COVID-19 among the most vulnerable population. Through the distribution of food baskets and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the project led by the Jesuit Refugee Service attended 1.100 people (883 women and 217 men) asylum-seekers and the local population.

Canteens in Venezuela

Food safety in Fe y Alegría schools.

Given the food insecurity of thousands of children in Venezuela in the recent years and its impact on school attendance, in 2018 we started a project in Fe y Alegría schools to improve the nutrition of their students.

EPGO II 2017-19

Education, employment and humanitarian aid for the most vulnerable people.

The second Educate People, Generate Opportunities II” (EPGO II) program has been developed between 2017 and 2019 in 9 countries in Latin America, South Africa and Lebanon. A program through which we have supported and assisted 165,654 people through 23 projects, which we have carried out together with various local partner organizations, including Fe y Alegría in Latin America and the Jesuit Refugee Service in Africa and Asia. Through the EPGO II program, we have multiplied the opportunities for people living in contexts of poverty, exclusion and humanitarian emergency, keeping education at the center and expanding the geographical focus of the previous program by opening up to Asia. This program has focused on the lines of Education, Employment and Humanitarian Aid.

Firstly, we have oriented the Education line to the schooling of socially disadvantaged people by supporting children, young people and adolescents, and helping centers through tools and training in educational skills. On the other hand, in the Employment line, we have developed technical-professional training for young people at risk of exclusion to generate a future of professional opportunities.

Finally, we have addressed the line of humanitarian aid to people in need of international protection, combining the most basic emergency aid with activities aimed at bringing about structural changes in the lives of the people involved.

Earthquake in Mexico, 2017

Reconstruction of infrastructure and support for people affected.

Following the earthquakes in Mexico in September 2017, which left nearly 400 people deceased in addition to severe damages to the infrastructure, we activated two interventions to support those affected by the earthquake.

A total of 18,400 affected people have been benefited by our two emergency projects. With regards to the first one, we have carried it out together with the Jesuit Migrant Service, and it has been focused on rebuilding shelters for migrants who had been damaged by the earthquake. And, through the second one, we have supported the Loyola Foundation work on building houses for affected families.

Earthquake in Ecuador, 2016

Education to overcome the tragedy.

The earthquake that struck northwestern Ecuador in April 2016 took the life of more than 600 people, left 30,000 homeless and affected around 700 schools, preventing or hindering access to education for thousands of children.

In response to this tragedy, we supported the work of different partner organisations in favour of the population most affected by the earthquake, with the distribution of emergency aid such as food or medicines, the provision of psychosocial support and medical assistance, the construction of antiseismic housing for affected families, the reconstruction of educational infrastructures and the development of activities on resilience and risk reduction in these infrastructures.

On the borders of Colombia, 2015-18

III Program for the Local Integration of the Displaced and Refugee Population.

Between September 2015 and August 2018, we carried out a project together with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Latin America and the Caribbean with the objective of supporting displaced, refugee and returnee populations in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.

Our lines of work were: Livelihoods, Formal education and Protection and guarantee of access to rights, paying special attention to minors at risk of forced recruitment by the parties to the conflict, refugees or displaced persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities and women heads of households with minors.

EPGO I, 2014-16

Technical-professional training and attention to vulnerable groups.

The “Educate People, Generate Opportunities” (EPGO) program was carried out between 2014 and 2016 in 13 countries (9 in Latin America and 4 in Africa), generating a positive impact on the lives of more than 160,000 people. The program was articulated around two main lines of action, technical-professional training and training and care for vulnerable groups, and was implemented hand in hand with local partner organizations, such as Fe y Alegría and the Jesuit Refugee Service.

In Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela), through the line of technical and job training, young people and adults living in poverty received professional training and, through the line of training for vulnerable populations, we attended to and offered opportunities for the future to the indigenous population, people with disabilities, young people at risk of exclusion and migrants and refugees.