West and Central Africa: 57 million students between the ages of 6 and 18 are lost, accounting for nearly a quarter of the world.com
UNICEF/Vincent Tremeau at a school in Burkina Faso, where children wait to enter their classrooms.
A joint report by UNHCR, UNICEF and the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian organization, on the eve of the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, found that 57 million children, adolescents and young people aged 6 to 18 in Central and West Africa are unable to attend school, accounting for 24.1% of the 236 million out-of-schools worldwide. Among them, conflict and insecurity factors are a major cause of school dropouts.
The report notes a surge in the number of school closures in the region's eight countries— Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Niger and Nigeria. By the end of the 2021-22 school year, more than 12,400 schools had closed.
In the last school year, the number of school closures in the central Sahel increased by 66 per cent. In Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger, more than half of children and adolescents are no longer able to access education.
The school was not spared the attack
According to the report, schools have either been directly targeted by non-state armed groups or abandoned because students fear attacks. In addition, violence often deprives entire communities of resources and forced them to flee, cutting off children and adolescents' access to education.
Millicent Mutuli, UNHCR's regional chief for West and Central Africa, said: "Sadly, learning institutions have not been spared attacks by armed groups. It is essential to continue to provide safe and quality education to all children, including refugees. ”
In Douala, cameroon's largest city, UNICEF/Tanya Bindra, a child attends classes in a UNICEF-supported school.
Coordinated action is needed
The report also highlights unprecedented challenges to ensure that no entire generation becomes lost learners. The future of this generation depends on the ability of Governments to make the rehabilitation, reopening and protection of damaged or destroyed schools a priority and, where impossible, to strengthen alternative school learning solutions. In addition, the parties to the conflict in the region should take concrete measures to end the use of schools for military purposes.
The report also notes that of the international funding to respond to humanitarian needs in West and Central Africa, education is often the least allocated. In 2021, donor governments will provide less than a quarter of the funds needed for emergency education needs and only half of the 2018 allocation. In Burkina Faso, the number of schools closed currently accounts for one-third of the entire region; But so far this year, donor funding has averaged just 20 cents per month for every displaced child under the age of 15.
The three agencies that jointly issued the report called for concerted action by governments, armed forces, parties to conflict and the international community to halt attacks and threats against schools, students and teachers, and to strengthen sustainable support for access to quality education for every child in the region.
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