Education Cannot Wait for Refugee Children in Crisis, says Yasmine Sherif

Yasmine Sherif in Lebanon with Palestine refugee children. Credit: Education Cannot Wait (ECW)By Nayema NusratNEW YORK, Jun 19 2021 (IPS) With financing, the number of out-of-school refuges could be reduced to zero, Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW) says, as the world commemorates World Refugee Day. In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with IPS in New York, Sherif shared her vision for a world where dignity and the right to believe in better prospects are returned child refugees – something, she says, can be delivered through education. “When you sit down and listen to young refugees in Bangladesh, in Colombia, in Lebanon, or in Uganda, the large majority will tell you they dream of becoming somebody that lives a better life, that helps others, that serves their communities or their country,” says Sherif. “They know that the pathway there is an education. They understand the value of an education. This is their hope. This is their dream.” Sherif chronicles the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the escalation of violence in Palestine, and ongoing conflicts on child refugees, especially in the past year. A staggering 128 million children and youth are urgently in need of assistance, up 75 million from before the pandemic. “The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted funding for millions of people already reeling from conflict, record levels of displacement, and climate change shocks,” she says. “For these children, COVID-19 is a crisis upon a crisi...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Aid Armed Conflicts Climate Change Education Education Cannot Wait. Future of Education is here Gender Violence Global Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Migration & Refugees TerraViva United Nations Trade & I Source Type: news