The global crisis in education needs a “dramatic shift” to shape a more peaceful, sustainable and just world, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday.
In Gaza, the recent spate of schools hit in ongoing Israeli bombardment threatens the futures of a “whole generation” of children in the embattled enclave, the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said on Wednesday.
In an interview with UN News, UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma explained that for the 600,000 children in Gaza who’ve been unable to go to school since war erupted on 7 October, the longer they stay out of school, the harder it is for them to catch up on their education.
It has now been over 1,000 days since the Taliban, the de facto authorities in Afghanistan, banned education for girls beyond sixth grade, a figure described by the Executive Director of the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, as “a blatant violation of their right to education” resulting in “dwindling opportunities and deteriorating mental health”.
The world urgently needs 44 million teachers by 2030 in order to make the Sustainable Development Goals a reality, a new report from UNESCO, the UN agency championing education, announced this week.
As the war in Ukraine nears the two-year mark since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, UN humanitarians reported on Wednesday that attacks along the frontline in the Donetsk region had disrupted clean water supplies in Kramatorsk City.
Sudan is “on the brink of a learning catastrophe” as war is preventing 19 million children from continuing their education, which could translate into a staggering $26 billion lifetime earning loss.
The warning comes from Mandeep O’Brien, Representative of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Sudan, where rival military forces have been battling since last April.
Houthi authorities in Yemen on Wednesday have ordered UN and other humanitarian staff holding US and UK passports to leave the country within a month.
