Of the 234 million school -age children affected by conflicts worldwide, 85 million children are completely out of school.
The figures are “unprecedented,” said Helena Murseli, who directs the Global Education of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the emergency team UN news.
Helena Murseli (Center) of UNICEF meets children in a classroom at DR Congo.
“These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a global pattern of growing conflict that affects the right of children to learn,” he said.
Childhood without education
In the short and long term, the consequences of getting lost education during violent crises are serious.
“Education not only saves lives, it is also standing and changes life,” said Mrs. Murseli.
“When schools close, families also lose their anchor. Children lose structure, security, normality that education provides,” he said. “Daily reality becomes an immediate survival, instead of building a future for them.”
Mrs. Murseli emphasized that long -term impacts are equal or even more significant. “Education breaks the cycles of conflict and poverty. When whole generations lose school, countries lose human capital necessary for recovery and development. We risk creating what we call a ‘lost generation’, children who grow up knowing only crisis, without the skills or hope of reconstructing their society.”
Sudan: the world’s largest educational crisis
In terms of numbers, Sudan is the world’s largest educational emergency. An estimated 19 million children are out of schooland 90 percent of schools are closed throughout the country Due to the violent conflict in progress.
To help address this crisis, Mrs. Murseli stressed that about 2.4 million children have returned to school Through more than 850 UNICEF Makanna centers, which means “our space” in Arabic.
UNICEF has also supported more than 250,000 children with holistic education services, providing students with water, sanitation, nutrition and protection so that their studies can continue successfully.
The organization also uses tablets with solar energy for education, “perfect for a country with more than 10 hours of daily sun,” Murseli said.
Children in Kassala, Sudan, study with the help of digital tablets.
In addition, an educational plan for transition of $ 400 million led by the UN Educational Organization (UNESCO) aims to restore access to education and vocational training.
Looking towards the future, UNICEF’s educational support project in Sudan plans to support relatively stable states with print materials and remote learning tools.
Systematic destruction of schools in Gaza
The war in Gaza and the destruction of 95 percent of the educational infrastructure have left 660,000 children outside school -Wash the entire school population of Gaza.
Many old schools are now now being used as shelters for displaced people.
A report to the UN Human Rights Council found that Israeli forces systematically destroyed the educational infrastructure in Gaza and described these actions as possible war crimes.
Learn with what is available
According to Murseli and the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), more than 68,000 children in Gaza has been reached through temporary learning spaces that offer psychosocial education and support.
UNICEF is also recycling pallets in school furniture and turning boxes supplied into tables and chairs.
In addition, digital tools to study literacy and arithmetic lessons have been provided to almost 300,000 Palestinian refugee children.
Ukraine: under fire education
Within Ukraine, 5.3 million children face barriers to educationAnd around 115,000 are completely out of school due To the ongoing war.
With many schools in the first closed line or operating remotely, more than 420,000 children attend the school completely online, while 1 million use a hybrid model.
However, continuous energy shortage has reduced access to online learning to just two and a half hours every day, and the school in person is often interrupted by indiscriminate attacks.
In the areas controlled by Russia of Ukraine, the UN Office of Human Rights said that the authorities are enforcing a militarized and patriotic curriculum and prohibiting the Ukrainian language, actions that violate international law, which requires occupying powers to respect the identity and national education of children.
Recovery classes and safe spaces
UNICEF has established 150 student learning centers in frontline areas and offers recovery classes twice in mathematics and Ukrainian language.
To adapt to the situation in the front line, Mrs. Murseli also highlighted the operation of UNICEF schools in underground metropolitan systems and bomb shelters.
Children study in a shelter at the Kharkiv subway in Ukraine.
In 2025, the organization aims to help more than 500,000 children throughout the country to access formal education and recreational activities.
To increase security, the UN Ukraine has also launched an initiative to create protected shelters for students and personnel during aerial raids.
Inaction costs
As crises deepen and humanitarian financing continues to decrease, educational programs have faced dramatic cuts.
Mrs. Murseli stressed that, as humanitarian financing could fall to 45 percent by the end of this year, “despite being the highest priority of emergencies, education receives only 3 percent of humanitarian aid.”
“I think we are in the critical turning point where we need an urgent prioritization of education and no more cuts,” he said.
In the midst of the rhetoric of a “humanitarian restart”, saving funds by making the humanitarian system more effective, Mrs. Murseli emphasized that the holistic education programs that provide students with humanitarian resources to prosper are the key to resisting crises and development later.
“We are talking about the future of 234 million children and, ultimately, stability and global development. The cost of inaction exceeds the investment necessary to obtain each child learning affected by the crisis,” he concluded.