Re:Build Lives Through Education

RE:BUILD is an innovative system of social architecture for displacement. Its vision is to disrupt the concept of refugee camps, by putting at the centre of the design process access to education for refugee youth, community development, the creation of jobs for both host and guest communities.

According to UNHCR, 20 years is the average length of time that refugees are uprooted before they can safely return home or find refuge in another country. During this long period, refugees usually live in degrading living conditions, without access to basic services. Only 50% of refugee children across the world have access to some kind of formal or informal education.

The widespread lack of education among refugee youth is, therefore, a key global issue which, if left unchecked, will impact not only the personal well-being of whole generations of displaced people but also their capability to become active players of the social, cultural and infrastructural reconstruction of their communities. 

To close this gap, Building Peace Foundation has developed RE:BUILD. The vision behind RE:BUILD is to revolutionise the concept of refugee camps by building safer, more dignified, sustainable shelter, involving the host and guest communities themselves in the construction process and, above all, creating access to education for thousands of refugee children.

Since we launched our ‘proof of concept’ in 2014, BPF has built 10 facilities in Jordan, including 6 schools, one Arts & Craft Centre, one centre for women at Za’atari refugee camp and an integration centre at Queen Rania Park in Amman.

The project has so far created access to education for over 3000 refugee children and over 100 jobs among refugees and host communities.

The RE:BUILD model has shown that it is possible to achieve dramatic positive impact. Drawing on our successful proof of concept and supported by a network of international NGOs and UN agencies (including the Clinton Global Initiative, UNHCR, UN Women, Relief International, Save the Children, Tent Foundation) ­– we believe the RE:BUILD project would be a total game changer in closing the education gap for whole generations of refugee children.

In collaboration with partner NGOs responsible for implementing the educational programmes, BPF – with the RE:BUILD model -  is able to provide a large number of refugee children across the world with schools that can be built quickly and by the communities themselves.  The project would, therefore, empower the host and guest communities by involving them directly in the construction process and, first and foremost, it would create a generation of qualified refugee youth which will have the skills, the confidence, the determination to rebuild their own lives and their countries.

Today, only 50% of refugee children have access to primary education. Education is a basic human right. Without the chance to study, an entire generation is at risk.

To date, with our pilot RE:BUILD model,  BPF has built 10 facilities in Jordan, creating access to education for over 3000 Syrian children and jobs for more than 100 refugees and local micro-economies. The project has already proved to be able to make a dramatic positive impact. 

Last year, RE:BUILD has been showcased at MoMA’s temporary exhibition named “Insecurities: Tracing Displacement and Shelter”

The schools will offer the chance for an education and a better future to millions of refugee children as well as jobs opportunity for the refugee and host communities.  The facilities will be built using the innovative architecture system developed by Building Peace Foundation. The RE:BUILD facility consists of a modular structure which is comfortable, cost-efficient and re-deployable. The structure is easy to build and to move, this means it can be dissembled and re-assembled somewhere else where needed. the RE:BUILD  schools can be easily built in less than two weeks by a team of six workers, lacking any knowhow.

The construction process will take place under our on-site supervision; members from the local community will be selected by ourselves and our local partners - Building the RE:BUILD school at Za’atari refugee camp

Our local partners in charge of the educational programs will give us frequent feedback on the number of students; moreover, we will have monthly on-site visits to check the impact - Over 300 Syrian refugee children will attend the school

The RE:BUILD model is the first of its kind for the following reasons: 

• The modular structures are much safer and lasting than any other traditional shelter
• The facilities are re-deployable: easily dissembled and re-assembled somewhere else
• The project gives refugee youth the chance to be in charge of their own future and the reconstruction of their own countries
• It develops skills and create jobs opportunities for refugees
• It supports the host countries by involving them in both the construction process and the educational programmes
• It facilitates the integration process among host and refugee communities

A key innovative aspect of the RE:BUILD pilot project is to employ the communities themselves to assemble the structures. The workers are selected among the residents of the camp by local agencies and authorities responsible for the settlements. After a training provided by Building Peace Foundation, the team of refugee workers work under the supervision of one of our engineer and a local assistant. As a result, refugee communities themselves are given the opportunity to have a job and develop new skills.

Access to the schools and all educational programmes will be free of charge for all refugee children. We are in charge of the turnkey project, up to the educational programs management. Once the school is ready, our local partner (among others, Relief Intl, Save the Children, UNHCR, Unicef) will run the educational programs.

We are currently looking into a range of options in order to secure funding and make RE:BUILD model sustainable on the long-term. Our main funding has come so far from private and corporate donors and partnerships with international NGOs. At present, we are strengthening fundraising relationships with other NGOs and social ventures that share similar goals as ours, while at the same time applying for EU and Governmental funds as well.

Factors that can limit the ability to extend the RE:BUILD model worldwide are merely financial. Our team will continue to work hard to secure funding and potential social ventures. We are extremely confident about the terrific potentials of RE:BUILD as a game changer in closing the educational gap for refugee youth.

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Re:Build is the brainchild of a team of innovators with a background in social entrepreneurship, sustainable architecture and international cooperation. Becoming 'Solvers' would give us the amazing opportunity to scale up our innovative project and create effective change for the education issue affecting millions of refugee children.

Our current partners are UNCHR, UN Women, Relief International, Save the Children, Tent Foundation