Change for a better future
Today’s world is full of different kinds of conflicts, wars, and disasters. Such serious problems leave people without their shelter and disable them normal lives. There are a lot of refugees nowadays. People who suffer from such unpredictable circumstances are from Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, Yemen, etc. Almost half of refugees are children. Children require special attitude as they are more unprotected than adults. Such organizations as UNICEF and UNHCR take an active role in the protection of such kids. The future of children refugee is very important in the creation of the stable and peaceful world. It is one of the main goals for humanity. While an average child has choices and possibilities to change his life for the better, the child refugee is in the trap of the circumstances. That’s why such children need our help and attention.
The number of refugee children has been growing a year by year. Many of them were born in the camps which are set for refugees and do not have access to the education of the country their parents escaped. This process is very hard and long-term as it requires a lot of steps and stages. According to the international documents every child has an equal right to education. UNICEF and UNHCR implemented many programs which give children the possibility to have shelter, food, and healthcare. These are the basic human needs. A person can not survive without normal living conditions and nutrition. UNICEF, for example, has such programs as Young child survival and development, Basic education and gender equality, Child protection: Preventing and responding to violence, exploitation and abuse, Policy advocacy and partnerships for children’s rights, HIV/AIDS and children. In 2013, 56 % percent of all expenses were spent for Young child survival and development and 20% percent of total expenses were spent for the Basic education and gender equal. Most of the funding goes to the shelter and nutrition. In this sphere, UNICEF has significant results. There were many life-saving missions, many people receive access to safe water, seasonal clothes, PPS services. The quality of health care has improved, the refugees were provided with many medicines, immunization campaigns, etc.
The problem of refugees is a tremendous task and needs a great variety of different measures. “A refugee is someone who, owning to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his (her) nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail (himself) of the protection of that country” (Convention and Protocol relating to the status of refugees). Of course, the first challenge is to find a home for such people and provide them with the food. The international organizations face many problems at this stage as they have to solve the range of problems. That’s why when it comes to education it remains not the most important problem to solve.
The education of refugee children needs very special and careful approach. Such children face many dangers and usually have serious psychological problems. They have a lot of fears so that the education is taken a back seat. The income to the education of refugee children is much less than an outcome. The situation looks dramatically as the future of illiterate children is very obscure. The children without education become adults without education which cause new problems and new challenges. As the result they are not adapted to life, they don’t know how to earn their leaving. So the generation by generation lives in the same conditions having no possibility to change anything. Taking into consideration the fact that the fate of all nation depends on every person we understand that the future of nations suffering from the different kinds of catastrophe depends on every educated child.
UNICEF and UNHCR make attempts to change the situation for better. UNHCR has created “a 2012-2016 education strategy that aims to develop refugees' skills and knowledge to enable them to live healthy and productive lives, and to promote self-reliance and sustainable peaceful coexistence” (“A Basic Right for a Better Future ”). This strategy contains three goals. The first goal is “to improve education access and learning achievement” (“A Basic Right for a Better Future ”). The second one is “ to increase access to post-primary education and training” (“A Basic Right for a Better Future ”). And the third goal is “ to expand tertiary education opportunities” (“A Basic Right for a Better Future ”).
According to the UNICEF statistics, the number of children in 2014 (Jan-Oct) enrolled in formal education is just nearly 300 000 (Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon). It is among nearly 20 million of children refugees.
There is also a range of barriers which enable international organizations to reach their goals in their programs and strategies. The most important barriers are the policy and capacity barriers. The lack of funding and inability to get access to education in the children’s native countries create the limitation to education.
Of course, there is some progress in the achievement of the better education for children refugee. But this process requires a range of improvements and changes.
These are not easy tasks and this situation requires the comprehensive approach. The role of education is very important and crucial. The educated person has more chances to improve his life and to achieve the better future. It becomes very important for refugee children whose lives are disabled many possibilities of normal children. As the result, the children of educated people has the ability to live better and so on. According to these simple facts, we understand how education is important. The international organization should do their best in this uneasy process.
Work Cited Page
“A Basic Right for a Better Future .” Unhcr.org. Unhcr.org, n.d. Web. 20.07.2015
Convention and Protocol relating to the status of refugees UNHCR Communications and Public Information Service P.O. Box 2500 1211 Geneva 2 Switzerland, 1951: 14-15. Web. 20.07.2015
“Country statistics.” Unicef.org. Unicef.org. n.d. Web. 21.07.2015
UNICEF Annual report 2013 UNICEF Division of Communication 3 United Nations Plaza New York, NY 10017, USA, 2014: 9-11. Web. 21.07.2015
