New EU-Funded Project to Restore Safe, Inclusive Education for Over 22,000 Conflict-Affected Children in the West Bank

World Vision, in partnership with the Teacher Creativity Center (TCC) and the Palestinian Ministry of Education, today announced the launch of a new two-year project to safeguard access to safe, inclusive and dignified education for the most vulnerable conflict-affected children across the West Bank. Funded with EUR 2.5 million from the European Union, the project will reach an estimated 22,475 children, teachers, counsellors and caregivers across 50 schools and their catchment areas in Yatta, North Hebron, Bethlehem, Tubas, Salfeet, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Jericho, Jenin and Nablus.

The project launches as the humanitarian situation in the West Bank continues to deteriorate. According to OCHA, 227 Palestinians have been killed so far this year, half of them in Jenin and Nablus, while violence has reached its highest level on record. Children have borne a disproportionate share of this impact. Since October 2023, escalating violence and access restrictions have created new learning barriers for an estimated 813,000 students across the West Bank. Last academic year, the oPt Education Cluster documented 704 students and 21 teachers injured, and 108 children and 5 teachers killed, in conflict-related incidents. As of September 2025, 84 schools were under demolition orders, threatening access to education for nearly 13,000 students. Children with disabilities, who represent an estimated 5% of the population amid the ongoing crisis, face compounded barriers of inaccessible infrastructure, limited specialised support and heightened risk of exclusion.
The new project will build on lessons learned from a previous ECHO-funded education in emergencies project that reached nearly 24,000 children, teachers and caregivers in the West Bank between 2024 and 2026.

Over 24 months, the project will deliver catch-up classes to 3,600 children to address learning loss and prevent school dropout. These classes, previously delivered to Grades 2-4, will be extended up to Grade 7 for the first time. The project will train 600 teachers and education staff in catch-up pedagogy and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), and provide psychosocial support to more than 6,100 students, teachers and other education personnel. Fifty schools and Temporary Learning Spaces will develop or update safety and preparedness plans, with 20 receiving structural rehabilitation to withstand risks linked to violence and disasters.

A dedicated contingency mechanism, aligned with the Education Cluster's rapid response system, will also allow World Vision to respond quickly to emerging education emergencies as they arise over the life of the project, reaching a further estimated 2,500 children.

"This project responds directly to what children, teachers and caregivers have told us they need: to feel safe enough to learn, and to have the support to recover from what they have lived through," said Dua Jamil, Project Manager at World Vision. "We are building on strong evidence from our previous programme, where children who took part in our Catch-Up classes showed a 24% increase in literacy and numeracy skills. Now we are extending that model to older children and to communities that have not had this support before, at a moment when the need has never been greater."

"Children in the West Bank are growing up amid violence, displacement and the constant threat that their school may be the next one closed, damaged or made unreachable," said Raffi Doudaklian, National Director for World Vision Jerusalem - West Bank. "Thanks to the continued support of the European Union, and to our partnership with the Teacher Creativity Center and the Ministry of Education, we can keep vulnerable children in school, protected and cared for. This project is about giving children back a sense of normalcy and hope, even amid crisis."

Notes to editors

About the project
"Ensuring Access to Inclusive, Safe, and Dignified Education and Protection for most vulnerable conflict-Affected Children in the West Bank" runs for 24 months from June 2026, with EUR 2.5 million in funding from the European Union, out of a total project budget of EUR 2.78 million. It is implemented by World Vision in partnership with the Teacher Creativity Center (TCC) and the Palestinian Ministry of Education, across 50 schools and their catchment areas in Yatta, North Hebron, Bethlehem, Tubas, Salfeet, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Jericho, Jenin and Nablus.

About Teacher Creativity Center
The Teacher Creativity Center (TCC) is a Palestinian non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation, registered since 1995. It was founded by a group of primary and secondary school teachers from public, private, and UNRWA schools. TCC's primary objective is to promote socially responsible education within the occupied Palestinian territory. TCC is a leading organisation in the West Bank and Gaza for Psychosocial Support (PSS) and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) interventions, with its main office in Ramallah and a branch office in Gaza City.

About World Vision
World Vision International is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities to reach their full potential by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision International serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.
World Vision has been operating in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) since 1975, and maintains one of the most extensive community-based presences among organisations working in the West Bank. Since October 2023, World Vision has implemented an emergency response across the West Bank focusing on protection, food security, mental health, healthcare and access to safe education.

Media contact: Mathieu Andre, Advocacy and Communications Manager at World Vision Jerusalem - West Bank, mathieu_andre@wvi.org | +41 78 242 92 44