Education saves lives. It gives children the skills they need to escape poverty, live healthily and have hope for the future. The right to go to school belongs to every child. However, 115 million children are still out of primary school – that’s 18 per cent of the world’s primary school-aged population. Save the Children research has shown that at least 43 million of these children – one in three – live in countries affected by conflict.
In 2000, world leaders pledged to get all children into school by 2015 as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, even if current commitments are kept, this goal won’t be achieved for children whose lives are torn apart by conflict. These children – who urgently need the protection, stability and hope that school can provide – get the least support from the international community. In 2004, only 30 per cent of education aid to low-income countries went to the 30 countries that Save the Children has identified as conflict-affected fragile states (see map on pages 04/05).The remaining 70 per cent went to the 33 other countries identified as low income.If the international community is serious about providing primary education for all, it must provide an extra $10 billion of aid per year,approximately $5.8 billion of which needs to go to conflict-affected states. Without this, the education MDGs will not be met. Ensuring children in conflict-affected countries get an education is one of the biggest challenges facing the international community. It’s not easy, even for major donors, to ensure that aid reaches children in countries where governments fail to make schooling a priority and where aid channels get blocked. But, for children in conflict situations, education is as important as healthcare and shelter. It should be a part of every emergency response and a priority in helping to repair and rebuild the lives of children in post-conflict situations.
Save the Children has set itself the challenge to get three million out-of-school children, living in conflict-affected countries, into school by 2010.We will also work to make sure the education they get is good quality, and improve the quality of education of five million more children who are already in school. We are calling on world leaders, international organisations, national governments and individuals to join us and help rewrite the future for all the 43 million children being denied an education in countries affected by conflict.
For more information about Rewrite the Future in southern Sudan, please contact the Programme Officer for Education, Ms Rose Wahome.