Education Is a Child's Right
Every child has the right to an education. Education transforms lives and breaks the cycle of poverty that so many children are caught in. And an educated child will make sure her own children receive an education.
Innovative Programs to Reach All Children
UNICEF has come up with some unique ways to make education accessible to everyone. In Ethiopia, we build migrating schools that follow the pastoral rhythms of a nomadic community. In Afghanistan, where under Taliban rule women and girls were forbidden to attend school, we are setting up literacy centers so that everyone can get the education they deserve.
In the aftermath of war, often nothing can make a child feel more secure than having a school to go to. After the Rwandan genocide, 800,000 people were dead and 95,000 children were orphaned. Many children had witnessed horrible violence or were forced to commit atrocities. For these children, going back to school meant a return to normalcy. So UNICEF developed its School-in-a-Box kit, a portable classroom with all the supplies needed to hold a class anywhere. Since then our School-in-a-Box kits have been distributed during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, after Hurricane Katrina, and in Darfur.
Whether we’re building schools, making classrooms mobile, training teachers, or even rebuilding an entire educational system--we will do whatever it takes to educate a child.
Related Links
August 17, 2008
The Prudential Foundation: Improving education for the children of Mexico
Mexico has made substantial progress in education over the last decade. Today, primary school enrollment is virtually universal and pre-school is now mandatory for children ages three to six.
August 14, 2008
Back to school in Myanmar
Three months after the people of Myanmar experienced the worst cyclone ever to hit their nation, UNICEF and its partners are continuing their relief and reconstruction efforts and have recently achieved a major milestone: children in all cyclone affected areas have returned to school!
August 11, 2008
Two displaced Afghan children voice hopes for the future after returning to school
Despite the successful efforts of UNICEF and other humanitarian organizations in Afghanistan, some of the country's children and young people—especially those living in camps for the displaced—still lack access to adequate education, nutrition and health care.
