Bringing education to the children of Pibor, South Sudan | WPN World People News

A national campaign to increase school attendance and participation was launched Tuesday in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area.

Children walk to school in South Sudan.

The Back-to-Learning (BTL) Initiative provides an opportunity to children and adolescents who have never stepped foot in a classroom and those who have been forced to drop out of school because of poverty, gender discrimination or conflict.

“Before the current conflict, South Sudan was already one of the most difficult places in the world to be a child,” said Jonathan Veitch, UNICEF’s Representative in South Sudan. “Fewer than half its children attended school and just one in 10 completed primary school.”

In response, earlier this year UNICEF launched Back-to-Learning. Already 160,000 children have benefitted from the initiative, which targets 400,000 out-of-school children across the country. Children in Pibor and surrounding areas will now also benefit from BTL.

The United States has been one of the largest donors to UNICEF’s Education-in-Emergencies program, which includes support for the Pibor school projects.

UNICEF has received a $23.5 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement projects aimed at delivering education services to conflict-affected children and adolescents.

"USAID has been supporting education in South Sudan since the liberation struggle," said U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan Molly Phee.

"Educating the next generation is the foundation of a peaceful and prosperous future for any country. But for decades, the children of South Sudan have had to forfeit the opportunity to learn to read and write because of warfare.”

“When the current conflict erupted, we were determined to help ensure that this generation of children does not suffer because of the failure of their leaders. So we worked with UNICEF and other donors to bring education to the children, reaching them at UN compounds and other locations where they are sheltering," added Ambassador Phee.

Pibor

Conflict has deprived Pibor, one of the least developed areas of the country, of the education resources it needs. Fighting has also forced out-of-school girls into early marriage, while boys as young as 14 joined or were conscripted into armed groups.

In January, the Cobra Faction began releasing children from its ranks. The last group of 283 children was freed in April, bringing to 1,757 the total number released in the Greater Pibor Area; 145 of these children have started attending classes at the Pibor Primary School.

The BTL initiative is supported by the Government of the Republic of South Sudan, UN Agencies, NGOs, donors and local communities, including thousands of teachers, community leaders and parents.

Back to Learning commits US$100 for every child returning to the classroom. The initiative is being supported by the United States, Japan, Norway, Canada, the EU and the UK Department for International Development.

Source: United Nations Children's Fund