UNICEF, ECW unveil resilience education programme, target 500,000 children in Northeast
By Tada Jutha, Maiduguri
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) has launched the second phase of the Multiyear Resilience Programme (MYRP), targeting 500,000 school-age children in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
The implementation of the three-year project in the 291 local council areas aims at building on the efforts and achievements recorded in the first phase that ended last November.
Unveiling the resilience education programme on Wednesday in Maiduguri, UNICEF’s Chief of Education, Vanessa Lee, revealed, “It will promote access to basic education for the vast number of out-of-school children in the conflict-affected states in the region.
She stated that as education cannot wait, the implementation of MYRP will also promote access to basic education for boys and girls in the Northeast.
The commitments of the State Ministries of Education and their Universal Basic Education Boards (UBEBs) are to enable the children to secure their future from the education sector.
The UNICEF Education Chief emphasised that the Federal Ministry of Education roadmap will also address the critical education challenges by capitalising on the strategic opportunities for the children that are still out of school due to the 16-year insurgency.
Besides the children’s enrolments, she added, “As education cannot wait, the implementation of resilience education could transform and elevate access to quality of education and align with the national goals and global standards.
Highlighting the importance of resilience education, the UNICEF education boss stated, “We ensure that no child remains behind, as the delivery of education will be accelerated to enhance learning outcomes in the conflict-affected states.
In their separate responses, the Commissioners of Education for Borno and Yobe states, represented by their respective Permanent Secretaries, Suleiman Sheriff and Ibrahim Buba Uba, commended UNICEF for funding critical projects in the education sector, particularly in the enrolment of out-of-school children into the various schools.
While in Yobe State, Uba noted that UNICEF interventions in the education sector have also complemented government efforts in children’s enrolment, provision of educational facilities and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in the 17 Local Government Areas.
Sheriff lamented that as Borno is the most hit by the over a decade-long conflict, it led to the destruction of 85 per cent of schools and health facilities in 22 local council areas.
