CED led by its Mission Statement, “To promote sustainable livelihood by advancing appropriate policies, interventions and attitudes towards education and community-led-development”  is committed to assist thousands of school age Somali children, boys & girls who lacked quality basic education services due to collapse of public education institutions, civil conflict and disasters.

Various forums have emphasized the need to provide for education. This includes the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which builds of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 2 and Education For All initiatives. Entrenching this goal is premised on the argument that obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improving people’s lives and sustainable development[1]. As such, sustainable economic and social growth cannot be achieved without substantial investment in education. Consequently, education has become a fundamental human right to which every child is entitled. It was first formally recognized as a human right in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted in 1948 and states that everyone has the right to education, which shall be free and compulsory.

Education is a fundamental human right to which every child is entitled. It was first formally recognized as a human right in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted in 1948, which states that everyone has the right to education which shall be free and compulsory, at least in the elementary stages. Since then it has been reaffirmed in numerous global human rights treaties, including: the 1960 Convention against Discrimination in Education which prohibits deprivation of any persons of education on several grounds,[2] 1966 the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which recognises everyone’s right to education,[3] the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women which promotes equal opportunities for education,[4] and the 1989 Convention on the rights of the Child (CRC) which enshrines the right of the child to education.[1] The right to education has also been recognised in International Labour Organisation Conventions and international humanitarian law. In the Central South Zone (CSZ), current Education Cluster data indicates a GER of 37 percent (31 percent for females, 42 percent for males)[2].  In real terms this means that 650,861 children in the 6-13 years age cohort are currently out-of-school.  A Gender Parity Index (GPI) of 0.72 highlights the fact that girls in CSZ are further marginalised when it comes to accessing education due to a range of socio-economic and cultural constraints which are underpinned by a general under-valuing of education for girls in Somalia. In CSZ, many girls have the additional burden of having to cope with personal psycho-social trauma as a result of experiencing or witnessing violence of a sexual and/or physical nature on their way to school during the conflict.

CED implemented  3 years project funded by EU titled; Vocal Option in Civic Engagement Somalia (VOICES) has been a great success whereby the overall objective of the action is to contribute to inclusive development by empowering all groups with capacity to claim and exercise their democratic rights in Somalia while the specific objective is to strengthen democracy and the rule of law and respect of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in Somalia. The aim is to achieve three major fundamental results by the end of the project; the expected outcomes and results are; 1): Communities have increased their understanding and awareness of basic rights and principles for social, economic and political participation; 2): 12 CBDRIs (community Based Disputes and Resolutions Institutions) have developed their capacities to deliver fair and affordable justice to all; 3): Enhanced capacity of 45 Human Rights Champions.

With these challenges in mind, CED has been contributing in one way or the other, to improving access to quality basic primary education programs in SC Somalia regions for the last one decade covered by

Since 2006 to-date, CED assisted 22 Educational Institutions including Primary, Secondary and University Students by reaching about 17, 231 students and learners, training 112 teachers while paying them some monthly incentives and facilitating the formation and/or reestablishment of 117 Community Education Committees (CECs) at the above Educational Institutions.

Very recently during 2011/2012, CED assisted 11 Primary & Secondary Schools in 4 regions in SC Somalia (Banadir/Mogadishu, L & M/Shabelle and Galgaduud) through construction of semi-permanent and permanent school structures, rehabilitation of existing schools, furnishing schools with adequate furniture, learning materials, promotion of schools sanitation and hygiene facilities, facilitation of formation & reestablishment of Community Education Committees (CECs), training of school teachers, CECs and Education Personnel on importance of education, teaching methods, and cross-cutting issues, such as, Gender Issues, Peace Education, HIV/AIDs, Conflict Resolution and other humanitarian related matters.