Globally, there are 250 million out-of-school children, according to the 2023 data by UNICEF.
A number of Qatari entities and UNICEF held a dialogue in New York on ways to provide equal learning opportunities for millions of out-of-school children, Education Above All (EAA), one of the organisations at the meeting, said in a statement on Sunday.
The meeting saw the attendance of EAA, the Qatari Mission to the United Nations, and the Qatar Fund for Development along with others.
“The primary objective of this critical dialogue was to reinforce the strong collaboration between the State of Qatar and UNICEF, charting a roadmap for the next phase of their partnership,” EAA said in a statement.
EAA and UNICEF also signed an agreement “aimed at propelling significant progress in education.” EAA and UNICEF marked their decade-long partnership that provided more than five million out-of-school children globally with education.
The two organisations expressed during the dialogue their plans to expand their collaboration to address the needs of 244 million children and youth who are in need of high-quality education.
The participating entities also discussed ways to “articulate a plan of action geared towards driving progress in the field of quality education.”
“The ultimate goal is to build a brighter future for every child globally and establish a world where no one is excluded from opportunities to learn,” EAA’s statement added.
Established in 2012, EAA, alongside other Qatari entities, has provided a vital lifeline for students forced out of their classrooms globally due to crises and conflict.
Last year, EAA pledged $20 million to back the UN’s Education Cannot Wait (ECW) initiative in an effort to support children around the world who have been denied the right to access education.
The ECW is a UN “global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises” aimed at benefiting 222 million children and adolescents affected by crises.
Other key efforts include the Women in Conflict Zones (WICZ) initiative, launched in September 2022 under the presence of Qatar’s Minister of State for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lolwah Al Khater.
“This is a programme that is one of its kind in our region and we hope that it will have, hopefully, a positive impact on girls and women in our region and beyond,” Al Khater told Doha News at the time of the launch.
Meanwhile, EAA established the Al Fakhoora programme in 2010 to honour the victims of prior Israeli bombardments of Gaza.
Its name is inspired by the Al-Fakhoura school in Jabalia, which Israel attacked on November 18, killing an estimated 200 displaced Palestinians sheltering inside the facility.
Israel also destroyed the programme’s Al-Fakhoora House, an educational facility in the south of Gaza, on October 10, 2023.
In light of the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, Qatar had pledged last December to sponsor 100 Palestinian students from the Gaza Strip. The programme will enable the students to continue pursuing their education in Qatar.
The war affected more than 625,000 students and nearly 23,000 teachers in the Gaza Strip, disrupting an entire academic year. Around 92% of Gaza’s schools have turned into shelters for internally displaced Palestinians and 138 schools sustained major damage.
There are nearly 15 million out-of-school children, aged between five-to-14, in the MENA region, according to UNICEF. At least 10 million others in the region are at risk of dropping out of school mainly due to conflict.
Globally, there are 250 million out-of-school children, according to the 2023 data by UNICEF.
