Implemented by UNHCR in coordination with the DRC government and other partners, this new investment provides education support to refugee and host community children and adolescents.
October 28, 2022, Kinshasa/New York – Education Cannot Wait (ECW) today announced new funding of US$2 million to provide vital education support for refugee and host community children and adolescents in North Ubangi Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC ).
The grant, aimed at a 12-month rapid action “Emergency First Response”, was announced by the Director of “Education Cannot Wait”, Yasmine Sherif, at the end of a mission of one week in the DRC . This funding will be implemented by UNHCR , the United Nations Refugee Agency in coordination with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and other strategic partners.
The grant will help refugee and host community girls and boys return to a safe and protective learning environment in public schools in host communities – an approach in line with the aspirations of the Global Compact for Refugees and the Sustainable Development Goals aiming to “leave no one behind”.
This funding builds on the positive results of the investments of the first emergency response launched last year and implemented by UNHCR and its local partners, together with the Government and in response to the influx of refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR).
Through this program, more than 8,000 children and adolescents have been enrolled in school and 56 classrooms have been built/rehabilitated, with implementation still ongoing.
“I have witnessed first-hand the journey of refugees through a grueling journey from CAR and the generosity of the government and local communities who welcome them. For vulnerable children, especially girls, education offers protection and hope. Many boys and girls who had never been to school in their home countries now have the opportunity to learn and grow. With this new grant, we can ensure that the response and build on the success of this programme,” said Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations Global Fund for Education in Emergencies and Protracted Crises.
This new investment from ECW has filled a funding gap but UNHCR still needs an additional US$3.94 million to fully meet the education needs of Central African refugees in 2022 and US$6.5 million for 2023 UNHCR has the necessary capacities and partnerships, but it needs urgent funding to fully achieve its goals.
The DRC has a long tradition of welcoming and accommodating refugees and aims to provide universal access to quality education for children in host communities, internally displaced children and refugee children. . However, with conflict, forced displacement, the climate crisis, COVID-19 and other epidemics such as Ebola holding back development gains, some 3.2 million children (aged 6-11 years) are out of school, and less than one in ten have basic reading skills.
According to the UNHCR, the DRC hosts more than 200,000 Central African refugees and asylum seekers (September 2022). In total, there are currently over 500,000 refugees and asylum seekers in the DRC; more than 60% of this population is under the age of 18.
“ECW’s new funding comes at a critical time and UNHCR in the DRC, on behalf of the refugees and their host community, remains deeply grateful to ECW for its renewed trust and commitment. Once again, this new funding will ensure that the results and gains achieved in the education sector in North Ubangi Province are not lost, but also extended to other refugee and host community children and youth.
UNHCR continues to appeal to other donors to extend its support to more refugee hosting areas in the DRC, which are also under-resourced, particularly given the multiple objectives of education: Protection, Solutions and Prevention ; thus confirming the triangulation of the three pillars of the United Nations Charter,” said Angele Dikongue-Atangana, UNHCR Representative in the DRC.
Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees