COVID-related school closures have disrupted the schooling of more than a portion of all students worldwide, isolating them from their studies, teachers, friends, and important school services, jeopardizing their learning, progress, and future.
For some, especially women, recess can also be permanent. It is estimated that more than 10 million women who in the past were enrolled in school before the pandemic began would likely never return to school. UNICEF is running to remove the barriers that will save women from getting the education they want to succeed to their full potential.
For the first time in 25 years, global poverty rates are rising. More poverty means more women are forced to drop out of school to work, marry or care for more younger siblings and family members with health problems.
UNICEF is working with partners around the world to help reopen schools and prevent child marriages, early pregnancies and child labour. themselves and their families.
“Many of my friends got married at a young age because of the COVID-19 outbreak that led to school closures,” says Maryann, 13, upstairs, a student at Saka Boarding Primary School in Kenya’s coastal province. “Right now, the number of women returning to school has increased. As a school, UNICEF has helped us with learning the fabrics and for those of us who are in boarding school, we have had bedding for our shelters. “
The pandemic also adds to the unequal burden on many women. Girls already do more chores than boys, taking on everyday caregiving tasks and traveling long distances to bring the water supply to their families.
“Fetching water affected my studies,” says Uzzaya, 13, upstairs, who lives in Bauchi state in northeastern Nigeria. “Most of the time, when I get home, the categories have already started. to school, it’s time for a break. If I didn’t have to go get water every morning, I would get to school on time. I would have time to make a stop in my circle of relatives and even some time for myself. .
Together with partners, UNICEF is improving access to safe drinking water in remote communities around the world, so that women can get to school on time.
“Education is not only a right, it is also a lifeline,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said on a recent stopover at a girls’ school in Islamabad, Pakistan.
For many children, school is a refuge away from tension and violence. Relationships with teachers and classmates are possibly the only healthy relationships they have. Schools not only foster the social and emotional well-being of children, but also provide the main food for 350 million children. UNICEF is working intensively with local governments to ensure that all women return to school so they can resume learning, play with their friends and get what they want to grow up healthy, in the hope of a better future.
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