Phl among recipients of Qatar program for out-of-school youths

DOHA – The Philippines was selected as one of the new beneficiaries of the Qatar Foundation’s global program   aimed at reducing the number of out-of- school children.

The Educate a Child (EAC) program will be implemented in the Philippines, Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, and South Africa by 2014-2015.

Initiating the project is Qatar Foundation’s chairperson   Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.

Officials of the foundation announced the list of new country-beneficiaries at the 2013 World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) held here last Wednesday.

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) said out-of- school children of primary school age number 57 million worldwide, most of them   from Africa and South Asia.

Sheikha Moza, UNESCO special envoy on basic and higher education, said a multi-sectoral approach is the most important component in ensuring the sustainability of education.

Educate a Child invites more partner organizations to support innovative programs and methods of education for the hardest-to-reach children, especially those affected by poverty, conflict, natural disaster and cultural barriers, she added.

Launched in November last year, the EAC program has already assisted more than two million out-of-school children in 24 countries.

It intends to reduce by 10 million the number of children denied their fundamental right to education by 2015.

Former British prime minister Gordon Brown, United Nations special envoy for global education, said the program will focus on underserved children, particularly those in conflict areas.

“Education in Third World countries is the only way to break the cycle of poverty,” he said.

Anthony Lake, United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) executive director, said schools are the safest place for children in war zones.

“To have children in schools is key to protection,” he said.

Filippo Grandi, United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) commissioner-general, said it is important to provide the safest modes of transport for students in conflict areas; access to education through satellite television; and training for teachers to handle traumatized students.

In the Philippines, Unicef said 17 children were killed and 19 others injured due to armed conflicts in 2010.

The agency also reported 221 cases of child trafficking in the same year.