46 million school-aged children out of school across Eastern and Southern Africa
Education in emergencies is a human right yet millions of children are denied access to learning
On International Human Rights Day, UNICEF in Eastern and Southern Africa calls for increased and equitable investment in education in emergencies to respond to the needs of millions of crisis-affected children across the region whose education continues to be greatly affected.
Every child has a fundamental right to inclusive and quality education, yet almost 46 million school-aged children across Eastern and Southern Africa are out of school. The most marginalized children, including children affected by conflict and climate emergencies, are the most deprived.
Today, sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of learning poverty in the world with 9 out of 10 children unable to read and understand a simple story by the age of 10. Children affected by conflict or climate-emergencies are at the epicentre of this educational crisis and face the highest learning poverty rates in the region. Over half of the world’s crisis-affected children live in sub-Saharan Africa. Children in these situations should be receiving the highest levels of support to help them learn and recover, but instead many are receiving none.
New data suggests that children in crisis-affected countries may acquire foundational skills six times slower than children in non-emergencies.
In Madagascar, a country prone to damaging cyclones and heatwaves each year, only 4 per cent of children achieve minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics. In Ethiopia, where children have experienced protracted crises resulting from conflicts, droughts and floods, the figure is 10 per cent. Despite the growing need to respond to the impacts of intensified crises on children’s education, global allocation of funds for education in emergencies remains catastrophically low and the education sector has seen close to a 70 per cent funding gap in humanitarian appeals, on average.
“Children in emergency situations have a right to quality education like every other child, yet education in emergencies continues to be critically underfunded and under-resourced. Education is lifesaving and should not be seen as a second phase of a humanitarian response,” says Wongani Grace Taulo, UNICEF Regional Education Adviser for Eastern and Southern Africa.
Climate induced emergencies have accelerated the regional learning crisis, displaced millions of children and pushed them out of school. At the peak of the historic droughts in the Horn of Africa, a total of 2.7 million children in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia dropped out of school. With no time for recovery, the same vulnerable children, families and communities are now feeling the impact of the El Niño phenomenon. In Somalia, as an example, El Nino has caused riverine and flash floods and as of early December, displaced an estimated 400,000 children. The education of approximately 876,000 children is affected as schools have been damaged, destroyed or are used as shelters for internally displaced populations. These children could risk dropping out of school permanently.
As of early December 2023, it is estimated that the education of 876,000 children in Somalia is affected because of El Niño.
Out-of-school children are among the most vulnerable and face a high risk of forced child marriage, child labour and recruitment into armed groups. These children are not only denied their right to education but also their right to safety, health, play and future opportunities. For children affected by emergencies, school is more than a place to learn, it is a safe space where they can interact with their peers, access nutrition, health and WASH services and receive mental health and psychosocial support to help them cope with their many challenges. Moreover, education in emergencies aims to ensure that children continue to learn and develop more effective coping strategies to survive current and future crisis.
“Investing in education for every child is not only critical for children’s overall wellbeing and further learning but it is also necessary for the development of the region. To reduce learning poverty rates in the region we need to prioritize investment in foundational learning, ensure we reach children in emergencies with quality education and support them to catch up on their loss of learning. Every child should have the chance to learn and acquire the foundational skills needed to thrive and fully engage in their societies. The cost of not investing will be catastrophic,“ says Wongani.
“Children in emergency situations have a right to quality education like every other child, yet education in emergencies continues to be critically underfunded and under-resourced.”
UNICEF is committed to safeguard children’s right to education. UNICEF works in the hardest to reach places to ensure children can continue to learn during emergencies. This includes:
- Ensure equitable, inclusive and protective education access and learning outcomes for children affected by crises.
- Provide teaching, learning and recreational material in safe learning environments, with teachers receiving critical training to ensure continuity of quality education and mental health and psychosocial support.
- Establish educational spaces that can provide an integrated platform for multisectoral interventions, including food, nutrition, health, and WASH services, mental health and psychosocial support, as well as measures to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.
- Strengthen the resilience of education systems, communities and children so that they are better able to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from crises.
The African Union will declare education as the theme of 2024 at the 2024 AU Summit. UNICEF will use this opportunity to engage with Member states, partners and the international community with a call for increased and equitable investment in education to improve learning outcomes in the region. With the needs of children affected by emergencies growing, this must also include a commitment to: invest in education in emergencies to ensure the most vulnerable children can continue their learning and; increase investments in resilience building so education systems, communities and children are better prepared to respond to crises and adapt to future shocks.
Education is a fundamental human right and it is our obligation to ensure no child is left behind.
