At UNICEF Market we believe we have to help the future generations. The goal is to help those children, so they can help themselves as adults. The primary way we can do this is through education – we have to be getting every child to school.
Unfortunately, this is a goal that is not currently being achieved in Africa. Two major U.N. agencies state that over 30 Million children in Africa are unable to attend school due to issues such as conflict and poverty. This is why UNICEF and its partners have a program to get these kids to school.
The launch of the PEP Academy at Muzomuhle School in Umlazi, March 15, 2010. Picture by Rogan Ward
Back in 1999, UNICEF initiated a program to impact the then 106 million children who were not attending school. We had so much success early and cut that number down to 60 Million over the next few years. However, with more conflicts in Central and Western Africa, and aid efforts being spread to other need areas, the effort has slowed. We want to pick this challenge back up with our program.
We know this is a critical challenge, in getting every child to school at the primary school level. U.N. surveys show that 23 million children in Central and Western Africa are missing out on a primary education compared to 19 million in Southern and Eastern Africa. There is work to be done in across the entire continent.
The way for us to keep kids in school is to use aid efforts to spin up new schools when schools are forced to close due to wars or conflicts. The aid money is allowing us to increase the education budget and putting an emphasis on the importance of education to both the children and their parents. We must also help eliminate poverty in the region as this is a major factor, as it forces kids to work to support their family. When this occurs the cycle repeats and the kids cannot break out of poverty.
We hope to support this effort as the baseline numbers show how critical this fight is – 1 in 5 kids in Africa, who should be in school is not. That needs to be all kids who should be, are in school. You can help uphold every child’s right to an education. Make a purchase at UNICEF Market today to not only give children the chance to go to school, but also save their lives and protect their childhoods. And click here to learn more about how to sponsor a child with UNICEF USA.
