Blog

“Unlock the Everyday” is the title of the campaign to celebrate the World Day for Assistive Technology (4 June). The purpose of observing World AT Day is to:

• Rally all sectors — including health, education, social protection, development, and the private sector — to shine a spotlight on the importance of assistive technology and call for increased access;

• Celebrate initiatives around the world that are improving access to AT, as inspiring examples of what’s possible when we commit to inclusion;

• Amplify the voices of AT users, who experience both the transformative benefits and the persistent barriers to accessing the AT they need. This includes older adults, persons with disabilities, people with chronic health conditions, and others with functional limitations.

Read about the campaign.

“Thousands of children have been subjected to rape and sexual violence in conflict-battered eastern Congo over the course of two months, the U.N. children’s agency said Friday, warning that existing funding gaps meant that hundreds of thousands were deprived of protection. Children make up between 35% to 45% of the nearly 10,000 cases of rape and sexual violence reported January and February this year, James Elder, the spokesperson for UNICEF told reporters in Geneva on Friday. ‘In short, based on initial data (…) a child was raped every half an hour,’ Elder said.”

Read the article.

“Sambath from the Kandal province in Cambodia faced a significant challenge after graduating from elementary school when a medical condition left him paralysed. Determined to continue learning, he sought opportunities that could accommodate his situation.”

This is a story about the resilience of Sambath in pursuing higher education. He succeeds in his studies and now has a full-time position as an IT Programme Support Officer. The story also shows the positive impact of a programme run by UNESCO, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training of Cambodia using non-formal education to help youth who face difficulties completing their education.

Read the story.

UNESCO has published this report on education in Africa. The good news: “Africans today are better educated than ever before and they are reshaping the global workforce, with the working-age population expected to reach 600 million by 2030.”

But, “Although 75 million more African children are enrolled in school today compared to 2015, the number of out-of-school children has increased by 13.2 million to over 100 million during the same period. Even more alarming is the lack of improvement in the quality of education, whether measured in terms of basic infrastructure or learning outcomes. The average school student in Africa today is about as likely to have a qualified teacher and have access to basic facilities such as water and electricity as their peers from 10 years ago.” There is a lack of investment in education by African governments, inequalities are not tackled. “Location and level of wealth are the most significant factors driving inequitable access. Children and young people in rural and marginalized communities continue to be disproportionately affected by educational inequalities. In some countries, secondary school completion rates among rural youth are up to 20 percentage points lower than those of their urban peers.”

Read the report.

UNESCO has published a report entitled “Women lead for learning” that shows a global gender disparity in education leadership.

The report mentions the impact a woman leader in education can have: “In some cases, when women lead schools, learning outcomes also improve. Schools led by women have been found to improve learning outcomes by the equivalent of an additional year of schooling in some francophone African countries, and by up to 6 months in some South-eastern Asian countries.”

Read the report.

Statement by UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder.

“These past 19 months, Gaza has been deadly for children and there are no safe spaces. From North to South, children are being killed and maimed in hospitals, in schools-turned-shelters, in makeshift tents, or in their parents’ arms.” “Children’s rights in Gaza are being gravely violated every day and urgent action is needed to protect children from widespread grave violations of their rights and threats to their survival. Nineteen months into this conflict, children have suffered violence without relent, including indiscriminate attacks. They have suffered multiple months-long blockades, denying them of essential food, water, and health supplies. They have suffered repeated displacements – being forced to relocate again and again, in search of safety and shelter. They have suffered in ways unimaginable. Their scars will endure a lifetime.”

Read the full statement.

Education Cannot Wait’s Director, Yasmine Sherif, has published this statement to highlight the situation of children in Gaza:

“In the past two months alone, more than 950 children have reportedly been killed in strikes across the Gaza Strip. That’s 15 children every day who lose their lives in this horrific conflict. Those who survive face the risk of famine, illness, and the collapse of essential services, including education.”

Read the full statement.

The Philippines is undergoing an education crisis. 24 million Filipinos aged 10-64 are functionally illiterate, with 5.8 million being basically illiterate. The World Bank reports that 91% of Filipino children aged 10 struggle to read simple text, a rate that has been worsened by the Covid 19 pandemic.

The article gives further detail and reasons: “Poverty and child labor are significant contributors to illiteracy with 678,000 (62%) of 1.1 million working children in 2023 being engaged in hazardous work. Early pregnancies also disrupt education with a 35% surge in live births among girls under 15.”

Read the article.

Niketan and Biblionef have launched an audiobook version of the story “My Name is Runa”, the true story of a girl named Runa who lives in Bangladesh and has cerebral palsy.

The audiobook is available in Dutch, English and Bengali. As Runa said: “Hello, I am Runa. I have Cerebral Palsy and I live in Bangladesh. Because I walk and talk with difficulty, everyone calls me “an idiot”! Now I play the lead role in a storybook, in which I tell everyone what it is like to have a disability and to be teased. My story has a surprising end. I hope it helps to raise awareness about how it feels to grow up with a disability”.

Listen to the story.