In Ghana, a boy does arithmetic at a blackboard | Photo © UNICEF/HQ07-0917/Olivier Asselin

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

February 2, 2010

UNICEF's "Schools of Quality" supports education for all in Lao PDR

Despite challenges posed by widespread poverty, ensuring that every child receives five years of primary schooling is a key element of the "Schools of Quality" approach. A participatory learning environment, relevant curriculum and a healthy environment are other features of a child-friendly schooling strategy that is showing promising results in Lao PDR.

December 25, 2009

UNICEF's education programs provide a lifeline to Colombia’s children

For over 40 years, Colombia has been a nation not only in the throes of conflict, but one consistently hit by natural disasters. Subjected to earthquakes, hurricanes, severe flooding and volcanic eruptions, the country’s infrastructure has deteriorated badly, allowing an illicit drug trade to flourish, violence to spread, and social inequities to persist.

December 21, 2009

UNICEF provides mobile classrooms for children in Uganda

UNICEF is helping children living in Uganda's pastoral communities realize their right to basic education through mobile learning centers. Mobile learning centers use instructional materials from "school-in-a-box" kits as well as materials for sport and play from recreational kits for children.

 

 

AFGHANISTAN GIRLS EDUCATION

 


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WHAT YOUR MONEY CAN BUY


$5 can provide ten children with a pencil and exercise book.

$60 can provide a School-in-a-bag with individual school supplies for 40 students and 1 teacher.

$100 can provide 100 children with a sketch pad and crayons.
 

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