UNICEF, partners launch education access program for Somaliland

UNITED NATIONS, July 13 (Xinhua) — The United Nations children’s fund (UNICEF) and its partners have launched a 64-million-U.S.-dollar program to help children in Somaliland in the north of Somalia have better access to education, the UN News said Saturday.

Access to education in Somaliland is extremely limited, with more than 50 percent of children out of school, according to a report of the UN News.

Particularly, the education prospects for children in rural areas and school-age Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are even poorer — only 26 percent of children in rural communities and 16 percent of IDP children are enrolled in primary schools, said the report.

Drought, food insecurity, poverty and inequality are some of the challenges that hinder efforts to get more Somaliland children and youth in schools.

To address the issue, UNICEF partnered with the local authority and the global fund Education Cannot Wait to launch the program.

The program, which will run for three years, has a budget of 64 million U.S. dollars, with initial seed money of 6.7 million dollars provided by Education Cannot Wait. The remaining 57.3 million dollars is being sought from additional donors.

The program is expected to provide more than 54,000 children with an education.

A UNICEF statement released on Saturday said the aim of the program is to “achieve improved learning outcomes for school-aged children who are affected by emergencies” by increasing access to quality, inclusive, gender-sensitive, child-friendly and sustainable education.