World Refugee Day Statement by Education Cannot Wait
Executive Director Yasmine
Sherif
NEW YORK, June 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On World
Refugee Day, we must stand in solidarity with the 120 million
forcibly displaced people – including 43 million refugees worldwide
– who have lost their homes and their human rights as the result of
persecution and conflict.
As we unite with partners across the UN system, donors, the
private sector and member states, we cannot forget the power of
education to protect and safeguard the futures of the world's most
vulnerable children. These are children uprooted from their homes,
their schools and their country, often ending up outside the public
school system.
Our world is bleeding from inhumane and brutal armed conflicts.
The most recent statistics from our partner UNHCR indicate the
number of forcibly displaced people worldwide increased by 8%
between 2022 and 2023, continuing a series of year-on-year
increases over the last 12 years. In the State of Palestine
alone, 6 million refugees are under UNRWA's mandate. The world at
large is facing the largest number of refugees since World War
II.
Low- and middle-income countries are affected the most, with 75%
of the world's refugees and other people in need of international
protection.
The dispossession, the uprooting, the suffering stemming from
human rights abuses has become the new 'normal' for these forcibly
displaced populations. Their lives and development demand a
turn-around from the abnormal to real normalcy. Living at home and
attending a public school is every child's right and
necessity.
On my recent visit to Chad, I
saw firsthand the hollow eyes and fears in the eyes of young
children fleeing from Darfur in
Sudan to Chad. I saw firsthand how UNHCR and other aid
organizations stayed with them day-and-night to provide a sense of
safety and basic necessities. I saw how the power of education to
insulate children from the horrors of conflict and forced
displacement indeed is possible.
ECW has provided US$10 million to
date in response to the Sudan
regional refugee crisis, with First Emergency Response grants in
the Central Africa Republic, Chad,
Egypt, Ethiopia, and South
Sudan. In Sudan itself, 18
million children are out of school, and we must urgently ramp up
global funding to address what is fast becoming the world's worst
humanitarian crisis.
The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela has become one of the largest
international displacement crises in the world with 8 million
Venezuelans displaced globally, according to UNHCR. In neighboring
countries including Colombia,
Ecuador and Peru, ECW has provided catalytic funding for
Multi-Year Resilience Programmes that are having a tangible impact
on the lives of millions.
There is a human face to these stories of transformation. For
forcibly displaced children like Shaimaa in Sudan, Darya in Moldova, Josveglys in Colombia and Jannat in Bangladesh, our investment in education is our
investment in human life, in human rights, peace and security.
The best step we can take is not to simply race from one
emergency to another. We must build the systems, policies and
infrastructure needed to ensure development depth and
sustainability. By translating our response through
humanitarian-development joint programming, we can respond with
both speed and depth. This requires financing.
On World Refugee Day, step up to #ShareTheirVoices as we
stand in solidarity #WithRefugees everywhere. More so, let's
step up to end all the conflicts that force them to flee. Let's
step up and finance their right to an inclusive and continued
quality education. Let's empower them to use their resilience and,
one day, lead.
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