UNICEF

CAN YOU SEE ME?
Munkhbat Tulga (age 13) and another apprentice monk read from a social studies textbook at the Sain Nomun monastery, near the city of Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. A recently opened school at the monastery has broadened the boys’ curriculum to include secular as well as religious studies. “Education is generally useful for one’s life,” said Munkhbat, who names mathematics and physical education as his new favourite classes. “Even if I become a monk when I grow up, it is good to be educated.”

© UNICEF/Brian Sokol

To see more: www.unicef.org/photography

DREAMERS WELCOME
Today, the United Nations Secretary-General marks 1,000 days until the target date for the Millennium Development Goals. UNICEF is seizing the opportunity to launch a digital journey through its dream for children.

The story of global development – of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Millennium Declaration – is not an easy one to tell.

Impressive gains have already been made: Over two billion people more gained access to clean and safe drinking water between 1990 and 2010; in many countries, many more children are now attending school and many more women are able to give birth safely.

What UNICEF and our partners have been striving for:

■That those children most in need are well-nourished and cared for.
■That more children go to school.
■That boys and girls look forward to equally bright futures.
■That more mothers are in good health.
■That more babies live to their fifth birthday – and beyond.
■That sick children get the care they need, and healthy children stay healthy.
■That more children have safe, happy childhoods, and adults know that it is a child’s right to have one.
■That more children drink clean and safe water.

Now, to mark the 1,000 day milestone, UNICEF is unveiling another element of that voice through a dedicated microsite: www.unicef.org/lastchild. Launched today, UNICEF is inviting the public to use the site to follow the story of the development agenda that was set in 2000, and the impact it has had on children.

The  microsite showcases the inspiring advances made for children through the joint efforts of UNICEF and its partners and draws attention to what still needs to be done to improve the life of the hardest-to-reach child – the ‘last child’.

What kind of dreamer are you?..visit our Last Child Microsite and decide for yourself.

Syria conflict depriving hundreds of thousands of children of their education - School infrastructure severely damaged, attendance rates plummeting, UNICEF assessment shows

Read our statement below or read the report as featured in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times

AMMAN/DAMASCUS, 5 March 2013 – Almost two years into the Syria crisis, the escalating level of violence is threatening the education of hundreds of thousands of children, a UNICEF assessment says.

One fifth of the country’s schools have suffered direct physical damage or are being used to shelter displaced persons.

In cities where the conflict has been most intense, some children have already missed out on almost two years of schooling.

“The education system in Syria is reeling from the impact of violence,” said Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, UNICEF Syria Representative. “Syria once prided itself on the quality of its schools. Now it’s seeing the gains it made over the years rapidly reversed.” 

UNICEF’s education assessment – conducted in December 2012 – notes that many parents are now reluctant to send their children to school, fearing for their safety.

Among other findings in the assessment:

• At least 2,400 schools have been damaged or destroyed, including 772 in Idlib (50 per cent of the total), 300 in Aleppo and another 300 in Deraa;
• Over 1,500 schools are being used as shelters for displaced persons;
• More than 110 teachers and other staff have been killed and many others are no longer reporting for work. In Idlib, for example, teacher attendance is no more than 55 per cent;
• In Aleppo, children attendance rate has dropped to as low as 6 per cent; and
• Some schools have been used by armed forces and groups involved in the conflict.

The assessment says schools in Idlib, Aleppo and Deraa – where fighting has been particularly severe – are among the worst affected. As a result, schoolchildren are often failing to turn up for class, sometimes attending only twice a week. 

In areas hosting high numbers of displaced families, classes are overcrowded, sometimes hosting up to 100 students.

“Being in school makes children feel safe and protected and leaves parents hopeful about their children’s future”, said Mr. Abdel-Jelil. “That’s why so many parents we talk to single out education as their top priority.”

Working to address children’s learning needs inside Syria, UNICEF is supporting more than 170 school clubs in Homs, Deraa, Rural Damascus, Tartous, Lattakia, Hama and Quneitra. The clubs allow some 40,000 children to receive much needed remedial education and take part in recreational activities. UNICEF is also providing teaching and learning supplies and is rehabilitating damaged schools.

However, an additional US$1 million is needed to keep the clubs open until the end of May. Funding shortfalls are also preventing the provision of urgently-needed pre-fabricated classrooms, repairs and rehabilitation of learning spaces, and the provision of teaching and learning materials.

*****

Photo caption: A boy sits at his desk in the Qalqiliya School for Boys in al-Husseineh, a neighbourhood southeast of Damascus, Syria.

Photo credit: © UNICEF/NYHQ2008-0532/Kate Brooks
 

The long march: children go to school
A blog post by Andy Brown, Digital Communications Consultant for UNICEF East Asia and Pacific 
Published Monday, March 4, 2013

In Cambodia, ten-year-old Pan In (pictured above - center) is attending school for the first time this year, following a local school enrolment campaign. She wears a clean white-and-blue uniform. “I walk to school every day with my brother,” she says. “It’s a long way and we don’t always get there on time, but my teacher is nice and she doesn’t blame me. I like learning literacy but not maths. Between classes, I water the flowers in the school yard.”

Soksan Primary School is in Pouk district, Siem Reap province. It consists of two long single-story buildings, which are clean and freshly painted. Outside, there are latrine blocks with colourful murals, a water pump and well-tended flowerbeds. In one classroom, young girls sing a handwashing song. “We will always be clean and wash our hands before eating,” they chant in Khmer language. “We do not play with dirt because it will make us ill.”

Pan In is a shy girl and older than the other children in her class. Sometimes she finds it difficult to fit in. “Once the children in Grade 2 stole my pencil and ruler,” she says. “I told my teacher and she made them give them back. They don’t steal from me anymore. The teacher also helps my Mum by giving us her daughter’s old clothes and books.”

Of her two younger brothers, six-year-old Pev still doesn’t attend school because he has a bad leg and can’t manage the walk. But seven-year-old Pean goes to the same school. “I like learning the alphabet,” he says.

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