Day of the African Child, Education for all Children in Africa: The Time is Now

JOINT STATEMENT

16 June 2024

Joining Forces Eastern and Southern Africa Region (JF ESAR) stands with the African continent in celebrating the Day of the African Child (DAC) 2024, under the theme “Education for all Children in Africa: The Time is Now.”

The Day of the African Child 2024 is an opportune moment to celebrate the children of Africa, assess the progress made, and identify opportunities that lie ahead to ensure that every child’s right to quality education is realized.

Over the past two decades, African Governments have made remarkable strides in education. According to UNICEF, completion rates[1] in Africa between 2020 and 2022 have increased from:

• 52 to 69 per cent in primary education
• 35 to 50 per cent in lower secondary education
• 23 to 33 percent in upper secondary education

Today, more children are in school than ever before, and completion rates have increased across all levels. Despite the progress made in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on ensuring inclusive and equitable education, significant challenges persist.

According to UNICEF 2023[2], 46 million school-aged children in Eastern and Southern Africa are out of school. Out-of-school children are the most vulnerable, facing heightened risks of child marriage, teen pregnancies, child labour, and recruitment into armed groups.  Sub-Saharan Africa holds the highest rates of learning poverty globally, with 9 out of 10 children unable to read and understand a simple story by the age of 10[3].

The most vulnerable are children affected by conflict, climate emergencies and children with disabilities.  Let us not lose a generation of children due to conflict.

With every displacement, dreams and childhoods are lost. Such is the case with refugee and internally displaced children, where education is disrupted because children constantly need to flee.

We need to sound the alarm on the dire situation in Sudan:

• More than 4 million children[4] are displaced since the start of the conflict making Sudan the world's largest child displacement crisis.  
• Nearly 14 million children[5], or 50% of the children, need humanitarian assistance.  

• More than 90 per cent of the country's 19 million school-age children[6] have no access to a formal education.  This is one of the worst education crises in the world.  Additionally, many school buildings are still being used as shelters.
• 17.7 million people[7] - over a third of the population – are acutely food insecure (IPC Phase 3 and above), including about 4.9 million who are experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity.  

Conflict and climate-induced emergencies have accelerated the regional learning crisis, displacing millions of children and driving them out of school. There is need to ensure equitable and inclusive access to education for all children.

"I hope for the conflict to end so that I can go back to school and continue my education to become a medical doctor. I call on all aid agencies to increase food aid for IDPs especially children who suffer from malnutrition and the old people," said 17-year-old Eman, an IDP from Sudan.

The child population in Sub-Saharan Africa is growing rapidly. By 2060, nearly 750 million children will be of school age, placing immense pressure on education systems[8].  While education is the largest public expenditure in Africa, financing remains insufficient and often ineffective. According to UNESCO, getting all African children in school will require[9] 9 million additional classrooms to be built (or approximately $100 billion investment), and 9.5 million additional teachers to be recruited and trained.  There is need for increased investment in education while also ensuring the efficient use of resources to reap maximum returns.

Violence against children in and around schools continue in most of our schools in Africa. Violence in schools include physical and humiliating punishment by teachers as well as bullying by peers. When children are not safe, they cannot learn. Violence in schools leads to $11 trillion in lost lifetime earnings[10]. Investing in ending violence against children in schools is critical to ensuring every child is safe to learn and thrive, and receives inclusive, quality education.

A whole-child, life-cycle educational approach from early childhood care through secondary school is crucial for combating challenges faced by children and youth. We believe that education is a holistic solution to address some of the most pressing issues affecting children today including harmful practices such as child marriage, Female Genital Mutilation as well as child hunger and malnutrition.

The decision to remove a girl from school or for her to get married is often made at the same time. Eastern and Southern Africa is among the regions with the highest prevalence of child marriage in the world. Currently, nearly one third (32 per cent) of the region’s young women were married before age 18[11]. Education plays a crucial role in empowering individuals and changing societal attitudes against harmful practices against children. Governments need to invest in keeping girls in school and ensuring that schools are safe environments.

The scale of child hunger and malnutrition is astounding, with 63 million children in Africa affected by stunting and 12.2 million by wasting[12]. School-aged children are bearing the brunt of the current food crisis, with a considerable number of children attending school on empty stomachs. School meals can play a crucial role in promoting education. Not only does the provision of a daily meal allow children to focus in school, but it also contributes to increased enrolment, attendance and retention rates of students. However, there is not enough interest, commitment and investment in school meal programmes.  Furthermore, integrating the triple nexus is key – peace, humanitarian and development.

Emelyne from Burundi who is one of the 418 million children who received school meals in 2023 shares her story: It is really hard to concentrate if you don’t have lunch at school. I’m likely not to get lunch at home and I worry that I could drop out. As we have lunch at school, I feel at ease while learning.

We need immediate and sustained action to change the current narrative. JF ESAR is committed to promoting the right to education for all children and we urgently call upon governments, partners, donors, civil society and the international community to:

• Prioritise access and equity for all children, ensuring that education is gender responsive and prioritise access for vulnerable groups, including children with disabilities, children affected by conflict and climate emergencies.
• Ensure that data on education is visible and disaggregated in relevant statistics and reports at all levels and in all contexts.
• Increase financing for education, with a focus on the lowest-income countries and conflict- affected and fragile states.
• Develop and implement policies to improve systems, capacity, and skills to prevent and respond to violence in schools across the education system.  Schools should to safe spaces for children.
• Scale up school meal programmes to reach more children with nutritious food sourced ethically, sustainably, and as locally as possible.
• Children are powerful agents of change who have the right to education and participation. All governments must be open to children’s views and opportunities for consulting them as education policies and services are developed, changed and implemented.  Feedback to children is paramount.

Together, we can ensure all African children have access to quality education and the opportunity to reach their greatest potential. The time to act is now.

By Joining Forces, East and Southern Africa Region - ChildFund Alliance, Plan International, Save the Children International, SOS Children’s Villages International, Terre des Hommes International Federation, and World Vision International

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