Africa ’s Forgotten Crisis

Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait   World leaders need to act for children and youth struggling to survive and thrive.By Yasmine SherifNEW YORK, Jun 1 2021 (IPS) A few weeks ago, I traveled with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi to the Modale refugee site in the Nord-Ubangi province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). What we witnessed there was a profound humanitarian crisis that has left 4.7 million children and youth in need of urgent, life-saving, life-changing educational support. Yasmine SherifHere on the frontlines of violence, forced displacement, climate change-induced disasters, and COVID-19, an entire generation of children are at risk of being left so far behind they will never catch up. Fleeing the chaos and insecurity connected with last year’s presidential elections in the neighboring Central African Republic (CAR), they have fled on foot through dense forests, hiding from violent militias. They have crossed raging rivers. They’ve lost loved ones. These children are now living far from their homes, without enough food to eat, many on the verge of losing their last hope. In CAR, one in every four schools is not functional because of fighting, and half of the country’s children are out of school. 70% of the CAR refugee children have never been to school in their entire life. They are the lost girls and lost boys of Africa. And these CAR refugee children are not just lost in the DRC. CAR refugees are...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Aid Crime & Justice Education Education Cannot Wait. Future of Education is here Gender Violence Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Migration & Refugees Peace Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations E Source Type: news