A Partnership for Children

Supporting the education of children in emergencies and improving educational outcomes for children in the UK.

Every child has the right to an education, to give them a future and to allow them and their community to thrive. Giving children an education can help to transform countries by boosting economic growth, reducing poverty and contributing to the building of a peaceful society. Yet ensuring access alone is not enough, and the quality of education is a significant issue. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic only deepens this learning crisis.

UNICEF is committed to ensuring that all children realise their right to a quality basic education, and the current crisis the global community is facing does not halt our mission.

Thanks to funding raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery we can help to ensure children whose lives have been turned upside down by emergencies are able to access and benefit from a quality education. At the same time our partnership will help to transform whole schools in the UK, through the Rights Respecting Schools Award, into places where children feel safe, nurtured and in control of their futures.

Providing Education in the Ugandan Emergency context

Uganda faces multiple humanitarian crises every year, including refugee influxes, disease outbreaks and meteorological disasters. In 2020, these emergencies were intensified by the coronavirus pandemic. By the end of 2020, Uganda was home to over 1.4 million refugees and asylum-seekers, of which 59 per cent were children. Support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery has been, and remains, integral to UNICEFs education response for refugee and host children in Uganda.

With this support, UNICEF is prioritising early childhood development, by supporting children to be ready for school, by promoting their cognitive, physical, social and emotional development. UNICEF is also prioritising adolescent education, by providing an accelerated programme for out-of-school refugee adolescents to support their transition to adulthood.

Providing Education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

The DRC still faces one of the most complex humanitarian crises in the world. Despite the peaceful transition of power in 2019, the combination of violent conflict, natural disasters, sexual violence, food insecurity and disease outbreaks such as Ebola still threaten the lives of children, leaving them with an uncertain future. Our partnership with People’s Postcode Lottery remains critical to children caught up in this turbulent crisis, with funding raised by players helping to ensure children access an adapted, quality education in a safe and protective environment. UNICEF continues to focus on improving access to education, improving quality and coordinating support to children’s learning in emergencies.

Case Study Spotlight

To help children keep up with their learning following the outbreak of Coronavirus in 2020, UNICEF provided technical support to the DRC’s Ministry of Education to develop an Education Response Plan. This plan enabled UNICEF to establish various distance learning tools, including programmes run by 90 radio stations and 7 TV channels and online digital learning, accelerating access for 11.2 million children.

Reflecting on her experience of learning from home, Bénédicte, a student who lives in Kinshasa in the DRC, said: “I was afraid that it would be a wasted year, but I followed the distance learning courses every day to keep my hopes up.”