UN education fund announces grant for CAR

UNITED NATIONS, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, on Friday announced a first emergency response grant worth 2 million U.S. dollars for the Central African Republic (CAR) in response to multiplying crises that are impacting both host communities and refugee children.

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif announced the new funding after a UN mission was conducted this week to the border regions with Sudan.

About 15,000 people have fled the military conflict in Sudan and crossed into the CAR, of which the majority are refugees. The ECW is supporting the efforts, led by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), to build a coordinated and inclusive multi-country response to the regional refugee crisis, said the fund.

"We must not forget the children who pay the heaviest price of crises in Africa. Conflicts, climate change, COVID-19, poverty, hunger and forced displacement are putting more children at risk every day. Without safe, quality learning environments, these children and adolescents face unimaginable protection challenges, including recruitment into armed groups, child marriage and other forms of abuse," said Sherif in a press release.

She urged world leaders to step up their support for the ECW and its strategic partners in responding to the interconnected crises.

The new investment will be delivered by the UNHCR in Birao in the north of the CAR, where incoming refugees and returnees from Sudan are being relocated, said the ECW.

The rapid development of the first emergency response grant will be led by local education authorities, in collaboration with the UNHCR and key partners on the ground. The grant will target both refugees and host communities, said the ECW.

Before the release of the latest grant, the ECW's investments had provided about 250,000 children in the CAR with learning materials, trained and financially supported over 3,000 teachers, and built or rehabilitated over 500 classrooms, it said.

In the CAR, only a third of children will finish primary school, and only one out of 10 will graduate from secondary school. Across the country, at least 1.5 million school-aged children are in need of education support, according to the ECW.