This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:
Hibapress
Nearly a quarter of a billion school-aged children affected by crises around the world urgently need help accessing quality education, according to a new report released Friday in New York.
“Across the world, the number of school-aged children facing crises and urgently needing help to access quality education is rapidly increasing,” reads this report on global estimates produced by “Education Cannot Wait” (ECW), the global fund within the United Nations for education in emergencies and protracted crises.
The document estimates that this number has increased by 35 million over the past three years, reaching 234 million by the end of 2024.
A growing number of conflicts and extreme weather and climate phenomena are compromising the present and future of more and more children, note the authors of this report published on the occasion of the International Day of Education.
As needs multiply, the new report indicates that after several years of significant growth, funding for education aid in humanitarian crisis situations is stagnating, adding that the share of total public aid to development allocated to education has even declined in recent years.
According to the United Nations, $100 billion in additional annual funding is needed to meet the targets set under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for education in low- and middle-income countries. the lower slice.
“On this International Day of Education, we are once again sounding the alarm. Nearly a quarter of a billion girls and boys in crisis situations around the world are deprived of access to quality education due to war, forced displacement, and disasters linked to climate change,” said the general director of ECW, cited in the report.
The report also mentions that exposure to armed conflict, forced displacement, climate-related disasters, epidemics and socio-economic problems pose long-term threats to children’s health, education and well-being. .
To address these issues, ECW and its international partners are launching an appeal to mobilize $600 million in additional financing to achieve the objectives defined in the Strategic Plan adopted by the Fund for a period of four years. These include prioritizing holistic learning outcomes, improving funding data, and responding to climate change and its impact on building resilient education systems.
