On 1 December 2025, UNICEF and the philanthropic arm of the MSC Group launched The Learning Bridge. The new programme aims to tackle profound learning setbacks and boost literacy, numeracy, and teaching quality for vulnerable children in Mindanao.
Over the past 16 years, the MSC Group and UNICEF have worked together on multiple occasions, generating $17 million in cumulative contributions. On 1 December 2025, the two organisations announced the next phase of their partnership: The Learning Bridge.
“Together, we have shown how innovation rooted in shared purpose can help to transform children’s lives. This new programme in the Philippines is especially meaningful to us because many MSC employees and crew members who inspire our mission come from this country, reflecting both our partnership with UNICEF and our support for the communities that our people call home”, stated Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of the MSC Group’s Cruise Division and Chair of the MSC Foundation Executive Committee.
Multiple goals and tactics
Over the next three years, the programme will attempt to transform education and learning for some 400,000 children in the Philippines, more specifically in Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines. On the island, poverty, past conflict, and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to the country’s lowest school enrolment and literacy rates. Moreover, frequent extreme weather events, inadequate facilities, limited resources, and a lack of qualified teachers continue to widen the learning gap for children and adolescents on the island.
The Learning Bridge will make use of multiple tactics to tackle the issue, designed specifically for their sustainability and national scalability.
- In the Caraga Region, a climate-smart floating school will ensure uninterrupted learning for children in flood-prone areas, serving as a model for climate-resilient education infrastructure. Local teachers will receive training in learning recovery strategies, including targeted tutoring and teaching at the right level.
- In BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), The Learning Bridge will support early childhood education and learning recovery through teacher training, play-based learning methods, and curriculum innovation. The programme aims to improve school readiness, to increase enrolment, and to enhance foundational skills in literacy and numeracy.
“Education is crucial for children to break intergenerational cycles of inequality and poverty and build brighter futures. We are grateful for the MSC Foundation’s renewed support that will enable us, together with the Government and local communities, to deliver innovative and scalable solutions to improve vulnerable children’s access to quality education, including those on the frontline of the climate crisis”, said Kitty Van der Heijden, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director.
Some of the project’s key interventions include strengthening community-based disaster preparedness, investing in digital learning, and providing essential resources and expertise to put regional initiatives into practice.
By fostering resilient educational systems and empowering children with essential skills, The Learning Bridge aligns with the Philippines’ National Development Plan, promoting lifelong learning. The partnership between MSCF and UNICEF is proof of how the private sector can support the work of UNICEF and government partners in finding solutions that will lead to long-term economic and social progress.
