UNICEF found that children need more educational support in crises-hit nations all over the world. These children do not have access to proper education due to the humanitarian crises their country is currently going through.
Millions Of Children Unable To Go To School
There is a lack of educational support for about 75 million of children aged three to 18 living in damaged countries, BBC reported. In these crisis-hit countries like Syria, girls are 2.5 times more likely to remain out of school than their male counterparts.
The ongoing conflict in Syria, for example, has resulted in the displacement of millions of children, BBC wrote. Six thousand schools have been damaged since civil war erupted in the country. After those schools were attacked by armed groups, they have been turned into emergency shelters for the military.
Aside from education, UNICEF is also working to provide food, clean water and health care to Syrian children, as well as protection from abuse, exploitation and violence, according to a press release from the organization.
Efforts Made By UNICEF
A new emergency education fund called Education Cannot Wait will be introduced at the World Humanitarian Summit, which will be held in Istanbul, Turkey on May 23 and 24. The new funding will raise almost $4 billion in five years to provide education and emergency aid to 13.6 million children globally.
Funding for the Education Cannot Wait program will come from new donor nations, philanthropists, foundations, religious groups and the commercial sector, the Huffington Post reported. Around 462 million of school-age children live in countries suffering the consequences of crisis like wars and environmental disasters.
In Ecuador, more than 280,000 schools have been destroyed by the earthquake that recently hit the country, according to a press release from UNICEF. As a result, around 120,000 children are unable to go to school, specifically in Muisne, Pedernales, Jama, Portoviejo, Manta and Chone—the worst affected parts of the country.
Education Shapes A Child's Future
UNICEF Education Chief Josephine Bourne said education has a huge impact on the lives of children living in impoverished and crises-hit countries, the Huffington Post wrote. When children go to school, they are less susceptible to be trafficked and recruited into armed and terrorist groups.
Education is also an important facet in the children's future because with it, they can improve their lives and give back to their communities. Children going to school are also less likely to be forced into child marriage and child labor as well.
