YAOUNDE – Cameroon says it has again closed more than 60 schools on its northern border with Nigeria to save children and teaching staff from increasing Boko Haram attacks. The central African state has deployed its military to teach displaced children in locations they say are safe. Boko Haram is increasingly using suicide bombers, as the military has drastically reduced the terrorist group’s firepower. Ousmanou Garga, the Cameroon basic education official on the northern border with Nigeria, says recent Boko Haram attacks have made many schools unsafe. Garga says several…
Read MoreCategory: Study
Cameroon Teachers Reject Military Convoys to Schools
YAOUNDE – At least 3,000 Cameroon teachers have refused offers by the central African state’s military to transport teaching staff to schools in the conflict-prone English-speaking regions. The teachers, who fled separatists’ attacks, looting, burning and occupation of their schools in the English-speaking regions, say they are not sure of their safety as some separatist fighters are again threatening to kill teachers and students who go to school. The renewed separatist threats are casting doubts over all schools reopening after four years of closure due to separatist crisis. Primary school…
Read MoreOnly 1 in 3 countries ready to receive children safely in schools in West and Central Africa
UNICEF calls on governments to accelerate a safe re-opening of schools for all children, with clear public health, hygiene and sanitation safeguards in place. DAKAR/NEW YORK, 7 October 2020 – UNICEF calls on Ministries of Education and Finance today to prioritize education in their COVID-19 recovery plans to reduce the negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis on children and national economies. New data from UNICEF on progress and perspectives for the re-opening of schools in West and Central Africa shows that, six months from the onset of the pandemic, which…
Read MoreGlobal financiers tackle refugees’ education
Leading organisations invested in children’s education met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last week to share programmatic and financial learnings developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the need to strengthen digital learning. Entitled ‘Meeting our Promises on Refugee Education during COVID-19’ the virtual roundtable brought together senior government, institutional, private sector and philanthropic partners to discuss learnings and solutions that have emerged throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Co-hosted by Save the Children, Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education, Education Cannot Wait and the World Bank, this high-level event…
Read MoreSchool health and nutrition: Invest now to build human capital, or pay more later
As schools reopen during COVID-19, governments must invest in essential school-based services By Mohamed Abdiweli Ahmed, WFP Advocacy Adviser Sareeyo is a Somali mother of three — including two boys who have lost their father. For her, the meals her children receive at school are a godsend. “I cried for happiness when I saw the children coming home satisfied with full stomachs,” she says. Like her, millions of poor and vulnerable parents around the world find comfort in knowing their children’s health and nutritional needs are taken care of at…
Read MoreContributions of Pastoralists Overlooked, Underreported, Study Finds
NAIROBI – Pastoralists, people who raise livestock in the open and are often nomadic, are being overlooked as a benefit to world food security and biodiversity. That’s according to a study released Wednesday by the Germany-based League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development. The study, which looked at five countries, including Kenya and Uganda, says a scarcity of data makes it difficult to quantify the contribution of millions of pastoralists to economies, ecosystems, and wildlife. A new study calls for the proper recognition of pastoralists communities in their countries.…
Read MoreIllegal money flows from Africa near $90 billion – U.N. study says
ADDIS ABABA, Sept 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Africa is losing nearly $89 billion a year in illicit financial flows such as tax evasion and theft, amounting to more than it receives in development aid, a U.N. study showed. The estimate, in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) 248-page report, is its most comprehensive to date for Africa. It shows an increasing trend over time and is higher than most previous estimates. The report calls Africa a “net creditor to the world,” echoing economists’ observations that the aid-reliant continent…
Read MoreUS mulls two-year limit for many African student visas
WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Proposed new US immigration measures could leave many African students in the country having to reapply for visas in the middle of their degree courses. A plan issued by the Department for Homeland Security (DHS), that is now up for discussion, outlines changes to student visas that have previously been issued for the duration of a course. But whereas students from many countries will be allowed to get a four-year visa, there are others who will be limited to two years “due to heightened concerns…
Read More