Funding gap means cuts to education programmes for Syrian refugees in Jordan

Ahead of a crucial United Nations meeting on refugees next week, it has emerged that education programmes in Jordan have been slashed – affecting 45,000 vulnerable Syrian refugee children.

As the result of a funding gap of $8.6 million, only 10,000 Syrian refugee children out of 55,000 eligible children will continue to get financial support from UNICEF.

Calling on the international community to continue providing assistance, the UN children’s agency said education is critical for Syrian children.

Save the Children – a co-host of next week国产视频檚 UN meeting – said cuts in international assistance will have a 国产视频渄evastating impact国产视频� on services in the region for refugees, including education.

Despite聽assurances made by world leaders in 2016 that every Syrian girl and boy would be in school by last summer, more than 30% of them are still being denied an education in their host countries.

In Jordan, UNICEF has had to reduce the scale of several education programmes for Syrian refugee children due to insufficient international support.

In response to the crisis, UNICEF Germany has transferred 500,000 euros (about $585,000) in emergency aid, calling on stakeholders to come forward with further donations.

Only 10,000 refugee children will receive financial support to cover educational expenses such as school material or uniforms.聽Another 2500 students in remote areas will now struggle to get transport to and from school.

The two UNICEF Jordan initiatives to be hit hardest are the Hajati and Makani programmes.

Hajati is a cash-for-education exchange, which grants students 20 Jordanian dinars a month, or about $28, to help with the cost of school.聽

Administrators work with families to determine how that money should be spent – on transportation, educational materials or to make up for the household income lost by keeping a child in school. Last year 55,000 families received Hajati funds, while 10,000 are set to receive them this year.

Makani is an after-school programme that provides day care, homework help and child protection services. Of the more than 200 centres that were in operation in Jordan during the 2017 school year, less than half of those will be open again in are open this year.

Christian Schneider, CEO of UNICEF Germany, expressed his fear that 国产视频渕ore refugee children in Jordan will continue to drop out of school and fall victims to child labour or early marriage国产视频�.

国产视频淥ur contribution alone cannot secure the continuation of all UNICEF educational programmes,国产视频� Schneider said, while calling on the international community to continue to provide assistance.聽

The funding shortfall could affect around 120,000 students in more than 170 Jordanian schools.聽There is also concern that Syrian refugee children could suffer elsewhere in the region.

Joseph Nhan-O国产视频橰eilly, Head of Education Policy at Save the Children, told Their News: 国产视频淐uts in international assistance both to UN agencies, NGOs and refugee hosting countries throughout the region will have a devastating impact on services for refugees, including education.

国产视频淢ulti-year, sustained and timely funding to educate refugees in the Syria region remains as urgent as ever. At multiple annual Supporting Syria and the Region conferences, donors have made welcome financial commitments – but donors must deliver on their promises.

国产视频淲ithout adequate funding and tracking, the international community is letting down millions of vulnerable children and youth.国产视频�

国产视频’s #YouPromised campaign has been pushing for two years for the pledge to get every Syrian refugee child in school to be kept. Progress has been made – 1.4 million Syrian child are now getting an education in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. But more than three in 10 are still out of school and at risk of child labour, early marriage and exploitation.

Nhan-O国产视频橰eilly added that Save the Children continues to support education of both refugees and host community children in Jordan but funding is 国产视频渄efinitely a challenge国产视频�.聽

The charity is also working to mobilise funding from other sources and pointed to a 国产视频済roundbreaking partnership国产视频� with Pearson and the Ministry of Education in Jordan to support refugee children.

国产视频淲e国产视频檇 love to see more examples of this type of support from the private sector and private philanthropy,国产视频� Nhan-O国产视频橰eilly added.

The calls for continued international support for refugees came ahead of the UN General Assembly next week when a High-level Meeting on Action for Refugee Education will take place in New York.

The co-hosts of the meeting are UNHCR, Save the Children, INEE, UNICEF, UNESCO, Education Cannot Wait, Global Partnership for Education and World Bank.

The event will bring together refugee hosting states, donor governments, multilateral institutions, the private sector and civil society, to agree on how to improve efforts to deliver the education commitments in the New York Declaration and Global Compact for Refugees.

Nhan-O国产视频橰eilly – co-chair of next week国产视频檚 High Level Meeting – said a main aim is to 国产视频済alvanise meaningful action国产视频� to deliver the commitments to refugee education in the Global Compact on Refugees.

国产视频淢ore than half of the world国产视频檚 refugee children 国产视频� four million 国产视频� remain out of school. And in the last year alone that figure has grown by half a million. Our efforts to close the education gap for refugees aren国产视频檛 keeping pace with displacement,国产视频� he said.

国产视频淲e want the meeting to be the moment at which we move from rhetoric to results and agree on the practical steps we国产视频檙e all going to take to deliver meaningful progress.国产视频�

UNHCR has also called for urgent funding of some $270 million to ensure that vulnerable Syrian refugees and IDPs do not miss out on vital protection for the remainder of 2018.聽