Education Development Center (EDC), headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit that manages 325 projects in 35 countries around the world, including projects in Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North, Central and South America.

Founded in 1958, EDC’s projects focus on issues such as early childhood development, K-12 education, health promotion, workforce preparation, community development, learning technologies, basic and adult education, institutional reform, medical ethics and social justice.  All issues are united by the conviction that learning is the liberating force in human development.

A few of the projects include:

Bahrain - Providing technical assistance to the Government of Bahrain on Labor Market reforms, including consulting on wages, working conditions, unemployment, labor policies, and labor exploitation and trafficking.

Yemen - The Internet for Yemeni High Schools projects trains and connects students, teachers and principals in the use of student-centered teaching and learning technologies. Students, and girls in particular, are given opportunities to access information and learn from other students in Yemen, the region and the USA.

Palestinian Communities - Active in 30 clusters of communities in the West Bank and Gaza, the Ruwwad Youth Volunteers for Community Assistance Program and local partners gives humanitarian aid, runs livelihood self-reliance programs for rural households, and helps youth develop leadership skills through civic education activities.

Haiti - At-risk and out-of-school youth ages 6 to 18 are provided with formal education in math, Creole, civic education, health and environmental education through Interactive Radio Instruction. Started in the early 1990’s the project allows students to continue learning during times of political unrest. The project is reach an estimated 352 schools and 45,000 students, of which 48% are girls.

Belize, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago - In cooperation with UNESCO, EDC works to strengthen the education efforts to educate the public on issues relating to HIV/AIDS.

Japan - A project uses picture books to expose students in Grades 1 to 3 to present-day American culture and diversity. The project is in response to the Japanese Ministry of Education’s plans to expose children to foreign languages and to become familiar with foreign cultures.

More detailed information on EDC can be found on their website.