Moalims

NEW YORK – UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown announced the creation of the world body’s first humanitarian fund for the education of refugee children.

At next week’s World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, more than 100 of the world’s leading countries, companies and philanthropists will join forces to create a major breakthrough in the effort to assist millions of children whose education has been disrupted by conflicts and natural disasters, he said.

“It is designed to cater the needs of 30 million displaced girls and boys, the largest population of girls and boys uprooted since 1945, 20 million of whom have no choice at the moment and are unable to go to school,” he said of the new ‘Education Cannot Wait’ fund.

Brown said the number of children who are missing out on schooling due to displacement is becoming a global crisis that will haunt the world for generations. “This fund will be unique in many different ways,” he said here at the UN Headquarters, via telephone.

“We will be the first to bridge the gap between humanitarian aid and development aid. At present education falls through the net. Most humanitarian aid goes as you would expect to food and shelter, and development aid is long terms and not geared to an emergency,” he added.

Brown highlighted that the action has to be taken urgently because the sheer scale of numbers of children missing out on schooling is becoming a full-blown global crisis. He underscored that the new fund could be the only chance to save a generation lost to war, child marriage, forced labour and the recruiters for violent extremism.

“We believe that this fund will offer young people hope, because when we ask ourselves what breaks the lives of once thriving young children, it's not just the Mediterranean wave that submerged the life vest, it's not just the food convoy that does not arrive in Syria, it is also the absence of hope; the soul crushing certainty that there is nothing ahead to plan or prepare for, not even a place in school,” he warned.

The UN has stressed that the ultimate aim for ‘Education Cannot Wait’ is to transform humanitarian aid for the future. “This is a lost generation we must help urgently. We live in a world where refugee needs are not temporary, with many spending more than a decade out of country,” Brown said.

“For too long we have neglected the education of young people in conflict zones, at the cost of making youth the recruits for terrorist groups and their parents the most likely to leave and seek a better future for their children in Europe or America,” he added.

Also, the UN announced that almost 200 humanitarian partners from across the Pacific are heading to Istanbul for the summit, where the region's experiences in responding to disasters and climate change will be high on the agenda.

A total of 15 Pacific governments have signaled their commitment to send high level delegations to Turkey including Heads of Government from Fiji, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands, Nauru and Vanuatu.

News Reference