UN passes UAE and UK resolution on girls’ education in war zones
UK and UAE diplomats persuaded the UN Human Rights Council to adopt a resolution backing 12 years of high-quality education for all girls.
Educating girls was one of the smartest investments any country could make, said Simon Manley, Britain’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva.
“Today, the council adopted, by consensus, a landmark resolution on girls’ education led by the UK and the United Arab Emirates,” he said.
“For the first time ever in a UN document, the resolution calls for the international community to commit to 12 years of quality education for all girls wherever they are in the world.”
Mr Manley thanked all delegations in Geneva for backing the motion and said the UK would host an international education summit in two weeks.
Earlier on Monday, Britain said it would give £15.8 million ($21.9m) in aid to support education in six countries, including Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
The UK government said the funding would “address a chronic lack of research” into the most effective methods to teach pupils in unstable areas.
The six countries – Myanmar, Nigeria and South Sudan being the other three – are home to about three million children who are refugees or internally displaced.
“We believe that every girl and every boy should receive a quality education, no matter where they live,” said UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
“This research will find better ways to teach the world’s most vulnerable children who are caught up in conflict and longterm crisis to receive a better education.”
Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said that children whose lives had been affected by wars, political unrest or natural disasters often suffered “a severe disruption to their learning, with lifelong consequences”.
Refugee girls, it said, were disproportionately affected, with half being out of school before the pandemic. About 20 million girls are at risk of leaving school for good in the next year because of the coronavirus, “leaving them more vulnerable to child marriage, gender-based violence, human trafficking and sexual abuse”, it said.
The pledge came before the Global Education Summit in London this month, which aims to raise $5 billion to support the activities of the Global Partnership for Education fund. The £15.8m funding is part of the £400m Mr Raab announced in April to support girls’ education in the next year.
The UK also announced £430m last month to help the Global Partnership for Education, which works to boost education in the developing world.
Educating girls was one of the smartest investments any country could make, said Britain’s ambassador to the UN