Education and Skills

This country has more than half of children out of school

Image: Sudanese children gather to celebrate World Refugee Day at a refugee camp hosted by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). REUTERS/Esa

Alex Whiting
Journalist, The Thomson Reuters Foundation

Nearly one in four children growing up in conflict zones are missing out on education, with South Sudan, Niger, Sudan and Afghanistan the worst-affected countries, the U.N. children's agency (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

An estimated 24 million children of school-going age are out of school in 22 countries affected by conflict, according to the agency's research.

South Sudan has the largest proportion of children out of school, 51 percent, followed by 47 percent in Niger, 41 percent in Sudan and 40 percent in Afghanistan.

"When children are not in school, they are at an increased danger of abuse, exploitation and recruitment into armed groups," said UNICEF's head of education, Jo Bourne.

"School equips children with the knowledge and skills they need to rebuild their communities once the conflict is over, and in the short-term it provides them with the stability and structure required to cope with the trauma they have experienced," said Bourne.

If children grow up without an education, their future prospects are bleak, UNICEF said.

"Unable to learn even the basic reading and writing skills, they are at risk of losing their futures and missing out on the opportunity to contribute to their economies and societies when they reach adulthood," said Bourne.

Education is one of the least funded sectors in humanitarian appeals. In 2014, it received 2 percent of humanitarian aid, the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO said in June.

UNESCO said 10 times as much - an additional $2.3 billion - is needed for education in conflict zones.

U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, UNICEF and others have called for a multi-million dollar humanitarian fund for education in emergencies to be set up, that can be mobilised quickly in a conflict, natural disaster or other humanitarian emergency.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

International Security

Related topics:
Education and SkillsJobs and the Future of WorkResilience, Peace and Security
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how International Security is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Systems thinking has great potential in education. Here are 5 ways to deliver it

Loida Flojo and Breanne Pitt

November 21, 2024

World's leading universities for interdisciplinary science revealed for the first time – the results may surprise you

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum