Damascus, Syria 19 January 2022 – Through an extra €1.1 million grant to UNICEF, Finland Government has renewed its pledge to increase access to education for Syrian children going back to school and give a gender-sensitive and comprehensive learning scenario for all children. The new €1 million grant brings Finland’s funding to UNICEF to a total of €4million.
Extensive displacements, lack of learning areas, poverty, and protection concerns restrict children’s approach to education in Syria. There are nearly 2,5 million Syrian children who are out of school. Among them, almost 51 percent are girls, and many more are at dropping out risk.
Disabled children are often among the most neglected ones and more probably to be left behind. As they grow older, it is growing more difficult for them to get enrolled in school and do adjustments to formal schooling. This hampers not only their development but also their prospects in the long run.
With the additional grant, UNICEF and its partners can support vulnerable girls and boys who were affected by the crisis. It will accomplish current light recuperation work on classrooms and learning spaces and provide informal education through compensatory and catch-up classes, self-learning projects, sporting activities, and provision of learning supplies for those who are out of school or at-risk of dropping out.
Financial assistance and case management simultaneously support parents and caretakers in fulfilling the needs of children with severe physical disorders and extend opportunities for these children to approach education.
“Every child, everywhere, has the right to attend school and learn,”. “The new funding from Finland will not only give more girls and boys in Syria a chance to continue learning but also equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to prosper in life,” said UNICEF Syria Representative, Bo Viktor Nylund.