Essence of Learning is active in 14 countries. Explore three of them in depth below.
Essence of Learning is active in 14 countries. Every classroom we work in is facing a different version of the same problem: children whose ability to learn has been disrupted by crisis, poverty, or displacement. Working alongside education and NGO leaders over the last two decades, Essence of Learning reached more than 50,000 children across 14 countries — not by exporting one fixed program, but by adapting the same underlying methodology to whatever a local classroom actually needs.
See where that work is happening. Click a pin on the map to explore each location.
Featured Case Studies
Three of these locations are explored in depth below — a closer look at what that adaptability looks like on the ground.
Bangladesh
In the Kutupalong refugee camp, home to nearly a million Rohingya refugees, Caritas built 11 child-friendly spaces where children who have no access to formal schooling can learn and heal. 44 trained Rohingya community volunteers help run the program alongside Caritas facilitators. As one caregiver put it: “They grow calm, become more polite.” The program is documented as a case study by the Humanitarian Education Accelerator, a UNHCR-led initiative.
Kosovo
Partnering with Caritas to bring Essence of Learning into early childhood education, with a focus on emergency pedagogy that prioritizes children’s mental and emotional well-being alongside academic growth. Essence of Learning is now active in more than 350 kindergartens across Kosovo, and is recognized by the UN Humanitarian Education Accelerator as a preferred emergency education method.
Gaza
Essence of Learning has supported children in Gaza since 2014, helping them rebuild the confidence and learning ability that crisis conditions can disrupt. One participant, a 12-year-old boy, described how the program helped him realize he wasn’t struggling because something was wrong with him — many of his friends were facing the same thing. The program is funded and supported by the Humanitarian Education Accelerator, a partnership between UNHCR and UNICEF.