“Their Hope for a Brighter Future Inspires Us All”

By Yasmine SherifNEW YORK, Jan 23 2021 (IPS) Looking back upon 2020, we all bear the scars of a devastating year; none so much as girls and boys around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education for over 1.6 billion children and youth globally and continues to do so. It has also deepened socio-economic inequities and heightened insecurities around the world, further impacting the lives of girls and boys everywhere. Ongoing, protracted conflicts, forced displacement and the worsening climate crisis were no less forgiving. Yasmine Sherif2020 was, in short, a brutal year for the world’s children and youth – most markedly upon the 75 million children and youth whose education had already been disrupted by emergencies and protracted crises, and who are now doubly-hit by COVID-19 – and the impacts continue to this day. It is crucial that we take a moment to reflect upon and mark the International Day of Education on 24 January 2021. It is exactly now that we need to reinforce our commitment to education as the crucial tool to carve a path forward for all the world’s children and their futures, as was hammered home to me again on my recent trips to Burkina Faso and Lebanon – both reeling from multiple crises. Conflict and insecurity have driven a million people from their homes in Burkina Faso in recent years. Educational facilities have been targeted, teachers and students have been attacked and school closures due to attacks doubled from 2017 to 2...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Armed Conflicts Climate Change Development & Aid Economy & Trade Education Education Cannot Wait. Future of Education is here Global Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Middle East & North Africa Migrati Source Type: news