Where we work
Windle Trust International works with people in East Africa and the Horn of Africa.
Our programmes span Sudan and South Sudan, and we have sister organisations in Kenya, Uganda and Somalia. Across the Windle network, we work with internally displaced people and refugees.
South Sudan
South Sudan is one of the newest countries in the world, emerging as an independent nation in 2011 when the peoples of South Sudan voted in a referendum to separate from Sudan. Unfortunately, South Sudan’s independence did not bring conflict to an end.
Within two years, war broke out again – this time pitting former allies against each other. Education is one of the casualties of the latest conflict. School buildings have been destroyed, damaged or taken over by armed groups; even worse, teachers have fled and pupils have been press-ganged into fighting. Hundreds of thousands of children who started school with high hopes of a better future have been forced out of school.
Reflecting a history of marginalisation and lack of investment in educational facilities going back to colonial times, the newly independent South Sudan is a country with some of lowest educational indicators in the world. The adult literacy rate stands at less than 30%, and despite increases in enrolment in the last few years, a half of all primary school age children - more than one million children - are not in school. Drop-out rates are so high that the completion rate in primary schools is one of the lowest in the world.
By far the greatest barrier to effective learning, however, is a shortage of trained and supported teachers. The consequence is that very few children manage to go to secondary school. Access to education reflects high gender, geographic and wealth disparities, features which pose enormous challenges to the development of South Sudan’s economy and to the nurturing of a sense of nationhood.
Sudan
Windle Trust International opened an office in Khartoum in 1999 and has supported education work in Sudan for more than 20 years.
Sudan has been beset by conflict for decades. This history of war, rebellion and displacement has had a direct impact on access to school, on the maintenance of the physical infrastructure of educational institutions from village schools to national universities and on the educational experiences of children and students in all parts of Sudan. For too many, education has been limited, subject to interruptions resulting in disappointing educational outcomes. These deficiencies affect not just those who are displaced but also host communities where the displaced have settled.
The scale of the conflict has led to flight and migration on an enormous scale. There are around 3 million internally displaced people (IDPs), mostly in Darfur in the west and in the states such as South Kordofan which border South Sudan. In addition Sudan hosts more than half a million people who are refugees and asylum seekers. These are predominantly from South Sudan but there are also many from Eritrea and Ethiopia.
In circumstances of chronic conflict, education provision is often overlooked, poor in quality and limited in scope. Such deprivation can cause a sense of desperation and frustration. The provision of education – whether at secondary, post-secondary or university level – is one way of inspiring hope in the future despite the anxieties of the present.
> Find out about Our history
Locally led, globally united.
Windle Trust International has sister trusts in Kenya and Uganda. Windle Trust International, Windle International Kenya, Windle International Uganda and the Windle International secretariat office each have their own boards, strategies, priorities and governance – but we have a common history based on the work of our founder, Hugh Pilkington.
We have a distinctive focus on education for conflict-affected communities and work to a similar set of values and beliefs.
Windle International Kenya operates in Kenya where it has a long history of collaboration with UNHCR and the government of Kenya to provide education to refugees and host communities. Kenya has welcomed hundreds of thousands of refugees - particularly from neighbouring countries such as Somalia and South Sudan - for many years and operates some of the biggest refugee camps in the world.
Windle International Kenya also oversees Windle’s operations in Somalia, including the DAFI scholarship for Somalia.
Windle International Uganda has a similar close relationship with UNHCR and provides both primary and secondary education to refugee settlements and neighbouring communities.
There is a long tradition in Uganda of seeking to provide integrated public services such as health and education to refugees – and this approach fits well with Windle International Uganda’s preferred way of working.
In addition, WIU operates the DAFI scholarship on behalf of UNHCR. This scholarship programme is specifically designed to make higher education available to refugees.
The Windle International secretariat office is designed to be responsive to and support the work of Windle International Kenya and Windle International Uganda at the same time as ensuring that its members are guided by a shared vision of increased access to high quality education, and work to common standard designed to ensure high standards of performance and accountability.
There is a fine balance between high levels of subsidiarity and strong co-ordination to support effectiveness, learning and responsive management.