However, over 3.5 million Afghans have been repatriated to Afghanistan since 2002, which indicates that though the situation is still unsure, there have been developments and improvements as well. However, the prolonged situation for many of the refugees means that they require more than just emergency phase assistance. Post-primary education for youth is imperative in order to provide them with a better future for both themselves and their country upon their return to Afghanistan, or upon integration into Pakistan society.

The RET projects in Pakistan were varied and took a holistic approach towards education for refugee and local youth. The material assistance was in the form of the provision of laboratory materials, teaching materials, science kits, the refurbishment and redistribution of computers to establish IT skills, and the construction of classrooms and other school infrastructure. These were complimented by literacy, livelihoods, life skills training and classical ‘catch-up’ secondary education for women and girls, assistance for disabled refugee female youth, and the training of teachers, school administrative staff and principals, including introductions to the new Afghan curricula.