Dubai Cares to fund education in conflict zones

Dubai, UAE: Dubai Cares on Wednesday committed to support educating children caught in conflict and emergencies with “programmes that work” to ensure preventing a lost generation. Dubai Cares, part of Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, on Wednesday committed $20 million (Dh73.4 million) for Education in Emergencies. The funding will initially cover programmes in Lebanon, Niger, and Sierra Leone, in addition to future programmes to be announced in the coming year. These new programmes are part of the ‘Education in Emergencies’ Evidence for Action (3EA), which brings together Dubai Cares, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Global TIES for Children/New York University (NYU) in a pioneering three-year initiative that seeks to introduce targeted and evidence-based interventions. “The most neglected, the most marginalised, the most individuals who are not getting their privilege into any crisis in the world are children. They are not getting their education. And we don’t need any lost generation happening in this world. The opportunity costs of these years lost due to conflict and natural disasters is exceedingly high and we need to do everything we can to prevent it,” Tareq Al Gurg, Dubai Cares CEO, said. “That’s why we are going to champion this and I have a very strong belief that all the adults in the future will be literate, only if all children of today get the education that they deserve.” Currently, one in 113 people is either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. More than half of the world’s refugees are children. Despite this, statistics show that only one per cent of overall humanitarian aid is spent on education. Through the committed fund, the 3EA programme in Lebanon will receive Dh8.8 million to improve the reading, maths and social-emotional outcomes for 4,600 highly vulnerable Syrian refugee children aged 6-16, among others. Similarly, the 3EA programme in Nigerien will get Dh7.7 million to improve the reading, maths, and social-emotional outcomes for 4,000 highly vulnerable Niger refugee children aged 6-14 who have been displaced by the insecurity caused by Boko Haram. Lastly, the programme in Sierra Leone will receive Dh7.3 million that will be used to improve the education quality and learning outcomes of at least 4,000 children (6-16 years old). Beyond numbers Jennifer Sklar, deputy director, Education at International Rescue Committee, said the programme goes beyond numbers and actually focuses on quality of education and learning that the children get. “We’re trying to make a case for donors to encourage them to go ahead and invest in, maybe, small numbers, but take the time to invest in figuring out what actually works using rigorous studies. And then we can scale it with what works, not just to scale it because there’s pressure to do so,” Sklar told Gulf News. “For Dubai Cares to actually invest in learning is really remarkable. But they’re not just reaching children, which many people do, but they reach children with what works.” Fund-raising campaign launched Dubai Cares on Wednesday also launched its month-long fund-raising campaign called ‘#LastILearned’. The campaign takes away the numbers and tells the real stories of the children affected by emergencies such as the story of 15-year-old Nadia who has not been receiving an education since the beginning of the Syrian conflict and who shares the last thing she learnt in school. This campaign enables the public to share their bit to help fund the education of these children. Key campaign donors Al Ansari Exchange, Lulu Group International and Noor Al Ghafari on behalf of Waleed Al Ghafari, have contributed Dh3.5 million. The campaign aims to reach at least Dh8 million. © Gulf News

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