Posted: 21/05/12
Ken Rhodes (Deputy Director of the FHI 360 Africa Education Team) discusses his finding from a study on the impact and the use of minimum standard for education in emergencies. He is presenting as part of the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies.
Posted: 09/05/12
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and internationally acclaimed actress Mia Farrow recently visited a therapeutic feeding center in Mao, Chad, where she met with families and children affected by the crisis. In this installment of the ‘Beyond School Books’ podcast series, UNICEF podcast moderator Femi Oke spoke with Ms. Farrow about her experiences in Chad and her thoughts on the role of education during emergencies.
To listen to this podcast, click here.
Posted: 03/05/12
‘Beyond School Books’ – a podcast series on education in emergencies
As Global Action Week (22-28 April) comes to a close, podcast moderator Kathryn Herzog spoke with Spanish professional basketball player Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers about making early childhood care and education a priority. Mr. Gasol is a UNICEF Ambassador and a champion of education.
To listen to this podcast, click here.
Posted: 24/04/12
Early childhood care and education – a cornerstone of every child’s development – is one of the most neglected ‘Education For All’ goals, and is unlikely to be achieved by 2015.
To commemorate Global Action Week (22-28 April) podcast moderator Kathryn Herzog spoke with Jack P. Shonkoff, MD, Director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, and Chloe O’Gara, Program Officer for the Hewlett Foundation’s Global Development and Population Program, about the importance of early childhood care and education and the issues around early learning.
To listen to this podcast, click here.
Posted: 15/04/12
Kabirou Sayo is only 15 years old, yet his life story could fill a book.
“It happened at the end of a school day,” he explained when asked how he came to be a victim of child trafficking. ''I met a man called Baba who traffics in children. He tried to tell me the advantages of leaving for Nigeria.''
Kabirou, then just 12 years old, was eager to leave his home in Bandessar, a tiny village in northern Benin, and Baba bribed him with the promise of a brand new motorcycle and “several luxury goods.”
Kabirou did not know he would be forced to labour for long hours on a farm once he arrived in Nigeria.
Waiting to go home
“After three months, I wanted to come back to my mother and father, but Baba would not bring me,” said Kabirou.
Meanwhile, his father was working to bring him home.
“There was not much I could do to get the boy back,” said Kabirou's father, Sidi Sayo. “I waited for the man who had taken him, Baba, to return. I spoke to him; I was angry. I called Baba to come before the elders… Baba said he had done wrong and would not do it again,” said Mr. Sayo.
Under pressure from the elders, Baba eventually brought the boy back.
“I spent two years over there,” Kabirou said.
Going back to school
Back in Bandassar, Kabirou asked to go back to school.
School is an important alternative to child labour, and it offers children a long-term path out of poverty. Education is also a right belonging to all children, one guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most endorsed human rights treaty in the world.
Djougou is one of 18 target communes where UNICEF is working to help the government increase the primary school enrollment and completion rates. But the challenges are manifold, says Abiba Orou-Tokpo, UNICEF Education Project Officer. “The cotton sector is in crisis and production has fallen. When families lack resources, they are forced to establish priorities, and education is not at the top of the list.”
The problems are not just economic, says Parfait Houssou, the head teacher at Bandessar's primary school. “Many of our schools are short of buildings and equipment. We also suffer from a chronic lack of qualified teachers. The national teacher training college was closed down in 1986 and only recently re-opened. I am quite lucky to have five teachers for six classes. In many schools, children enroll and then sit there, without a teacher. The next year, they just don't come back.”
UNICEF is working to improve education, approaching the challenges from a variety of angles, including establishing partnerships with community and religious leaders; providing furniture and school supplies; and upgrading schools through the provision of latrines and safe drinking water. A special programme also aims to keep girls in school beyond primary school.
Teaching children their rights
UNICEF is also distributing a board game teaching children about their rights. Based on the CRC, the ‘Analyse en boîte’ game uses elements of Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit to help children understand that they have a right to education, to protection from exploitation, and to grow up to be happy and healthy.
In Djougou, pupils in 21 primary schools play the game, and competitions are organized between the top teams. Prizes include pens, copybooks and geometry sets. While judging a play-off at Bandessar Primary School, Deputy Mayor Djibril Amadou commended the initiative. “The game teaches children their rights and prepares them for adult life. You also find that those children in Djougou's schools who have come into contact with the game are better prepared for secondary school.”
Kabirou now attends secondary school, and is grateful for the education he receives. He says he wants to be the Education Minister of Benin when he grows up.
In the meantime, he would like to do some educating of his own. “I would like to tell Baba that if he wants to take people to Nigeria, he should choose grown up villagers, not children,” he said.
Posted: 15/04/12
Mr. Essa Al-Mannai and Dr. Lori Henninger discuss standards for providing education in emergency and conflict situations, with a particular focus on their implementation in Nepal.
About the Project:
The program expands upon a successful ROTA project that addressed disaster preparedness in schools. It was developed in partnership with Mercy Corps and Action Aid Nepal. The program employs a three-pronged approach to improving the quality of education in Kailali District:
First, it increases the knowledge of the entire community regarding disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures through disaster preparedness training, simulation exercises, and community activities.
Second, the program addresses risks in schools by looking at shortcomings of school infrastructure, improving school accessibility for disabled children, ensuring safe and clean water and sanitation facilities. Communities are sensitized and mobilized to handle potential hazards during a natural disaster through trained peer groups, lobbying with relevant stakeholders, involvement of school management committees and Parent Teacher Associations.
Third, the program provides teacher training based on child-centered methodologies and builds the capacity of school management to promote transparent reporting and promote quality education.
Future perspectives:
The program is coordinating closely with government agencies to support the project outputs and expand them to other districts as well as to integrate DRR concepts in the national curriculum. The challenge is to make sure that these activities continue beyond the project timeframe. ROTA has been aware of such a challenge and is working closely with the local communities, school committees, and students to ensure strong local-national links and supports them as key advocates in national processes.
Posted: 27/03/12
UNICEF and the World Health Organization recently announced that the world had met the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water, well ahead of the 2015 deadline.
To commemorate World Water Day today, on 22 March, UNICEF podcast moderator Femi Oke spoke with Murat Sahin, UNICEF advisor on the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools initiative, and Alexander Schratz, the Executive Director of Fit for School, a Philippines-based non-governmental organization, about how much progress has been made and what this means for children.
To listen to the podcast, click here.
Posted: 13/03/12
In November 2011 Michaela (Chaeli) Mycroft was awarded the International Children’s Peace Prize for her work and commitment to the rights of disabled children in South Africa.
In 2004, nine-years old Chaeli together with and her sister and friends started what is known as the Chaeli Campaign, an organization that provides equipment, physical therapy and programs to children with disabilities.
Chaeli Mycroft - an ability activist from UNICEF: Back on Track on Vimeo.
Posted: 13/03/12
Getting kids get back into educational settings after experiencing a disaster is a growing problem for governments and aid agencies. UNICEF called upon CloudKid to create a visually rich video to inform donors, governments and potential partners about UNICEF's Education in Emergencies initiatives. CloudKid conceptualized, wrote and handled all aspects of the production.
Posted: 08/03/12
Ten years after the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) was launched in 2000 to safeguard the right to education and gender equality for all children, filmmakers Frederick Rendina and Oren Rudavsky travelled to Nepal and Uganda to document the lives of girls seeking an education amid poverty and in the aftermath of conflict. The resulting film, ‘To Educate a Girl’, supported by UNGEI, paints an inspiring picture of young girls determined to build their lives and follow their dreams despite the most challenging environments.
In the lead-up to a special screening of the film at Columbia University on International Women’s Day, 8 March, UNICEF podcast moderator Femi Oke spoke with the filmmakers about the making of the documentary and their travels to discover what it takes to educate a girl.
To listen to the podcast, click here.
Find Us On