By Sadiya Hamza
UNITED NATIONS – UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, says the tragic events in Nepal, illustrate the urgent need to address education in emergencies.
Brown, in a statement he issued on Monday in New York, said that nearly one million children were unable to return to school in Nepal.
He said that the emergency flash appeal for education had received only 1.3 per cent of the needed funding, placing children at risk of trafficking, forced labour and abuse.
He stressed the need for a humanitarian fund for education in emergencies to be established.
“This is so that even when calamity strikes, vulnerable children are not forced to wait in misery and insecurity while the adults pass around the begging bowl.
“Such a pool of money would help the roughly 50 per cent of the world’s children who are out of school.
“We are talking of some 28 million boys and girls, who because of conflicts, civil wars, or humanitarian emergencies, are out of school,’’ he said.
The UN envoy said initial reports following the recent disaster in Nepal suggested that schools that were retrofitted as a precaution against earthquakes escaped most of the damage.
“The usual cost of retrofitting each school is 8,000 U.S. dollars.
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
“No one is asking donors to make education a priority over immediate life-saving responses or that financing be diverted from other emergency relief.
“In the case of Nepal and other disaster-prone regions, the fund could and should be used to strengthen immediate relief plans, improve coordinated responses and support longer-term efforts to bridge humanitarian relief and development.
“These include preventive measures, such as retrofitting schools,’’ Brown said. (NAN)
you may also like:
- Latest
- Trending
