United Nations published this video item, entitled “Pandemic & transforming education for children in lower-income countries – Press Conference” – below is their description.
Press briefing by Charles North, the acting Chief Executive Officer of the Global Partnership for Education, on the worsening impact of the pandemic on education and the efforts required of the international community to transform education for marginalized children in lower-income countries.
Marking the International Day of Education, the Acting Chief Executive Officer for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Charles North today (24 Jan) said, the COVID-19 pandemic “is leaving millions of poor and marginalized children even farther behind.”
Speaking to journalists in New York, North said “the global community must do more before the COVID pandemic makes permanent, the inexcusable gap between how much rich and poor children learn.”
School closures from the pandemic, North said, “may have a permanent impact” on vulnerable children, noting that an estimated 24 million children “may never see the inside of a classroom again” while “as many as 13 million girls could be forced into early marriage, their educations cut short as families struggled to bear the economic costs of the pandemic.”
The GPE official called on education actors to “use this moment to redouble all efforts to transform education systems so that even the most isolated or excluded children in our societies can learn.”
North said that in those countries affected by conflict such as Yemen, Afghanistan, or Syria, GPE is “providing support” despite difficulties as “it is vitally important that we do continue that work so the education systems don’t collapse.”
On 3 December 2018, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming 24 January as the International Day of Education.
GPE is a global fund dedicated to supporting solutions to build strong and resilient education systems so that more children in lower-income countries, especially girls, get the education they need.
United Nations YouTube Channel
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