London – UNICEF said on Tuesday that one in four children growing up in conflict zones are missing out on education, with South Sudan, Niger, Sudan and Afghanistan the worst-affected countries.
A research by the agency showed that an estimated 24 million children of school-going age are out of school in 22 countries affected by conflict.
Jo Bourne, UNICEF’s Head of Education, said research indicated that South Sudan has the largest proportion of children out of school with 51 per cent, followed by 47 per cent in Niger, 41 per cent in Sudan and 40 per cent in Afghanistan.
“When children are not in school, they are at an increased danger of abuse, exploitation and recruitment into armed groups.’’
Bourne said school equips children with the knowledge and skills they need to rebuild their communities once the conflict is over, and in the short-term it provides them with the stability and structure required to cope with the trauma they have experienced.
“If children grow up without an education, their future prospects are bleak.
“Unable to learn even the basic reading and writing skills, they are at risk of losing their futures and missing out on the opportunity to contribute to their economies and societies when they reach adulthood,” she said.
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Bourne said going by statistics education was one of the least funded sectors in humanitarian appeals and in 2014 it received only about two per cent of humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile, Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education, said 10 times as much an additional 2.3 billion dollars is needed for education in conflict zones.
He and others have called for a multi-million dollar humanitarian fund for education in emergencies to be set up.
They said such fund should be such that could be mobilised quickly in a conflict, natural disaster or other humanitarian emergency. (Xinhua/NAN)