A girl smiles from a desk in a school classroom
ASMARA, Eritrea – The Government of Italy has provided UNICEF Eritrea with a grant of Euro 1 million to support a programme to strengthen resilience of children, adolescents and youth. The programme will mobilise existing community-based child protection platforms such as the Child Rights Committees at the sub-Zoba level, which provides a forum for young people to participate in and facilitates referrals to other government services including education and life-skills opportunities.
Over the next 24 months, the programme titled “Building Resilience of Children, Youth and Communities to Prevent Irregular Migration” will be implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Education in Gash Barka, Northern Red Sea, Southern Red Sea and Anseba regions from July 2019 – July 2021.
The programme aims to enhance support to existing government programmes such as the Complementary Elementary Education centres, to provide educational opportunities and life-skills to adolescents and children, especially those that are out-of-school, have never enrolled or dropped out.
The programme will also identify adolescent girls and children from disadvantaged families by providing cash incentives to support education materials so that the children stay in school and transition to secondary education. These cash incentives are designed to relieve the economic burden on poor families, which often forces girls to drop out of school, robs them of an education and limits their options in life.
“This grant from the people and the Government of Italy, delivered through the Africa Fund managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will provide learning and participation opportunities for children and youth of Eritrea so that they remain engaged in their communities and make informed decisions about issues that matter to them,” said H.E Stefano Moscatelli, Ambassador of Italy to the State of Eritrea.
One in four primary school-aged children are not in school and many live in hard-to-reach areas in communities with limited opportunities to complete elementary education. Many of these communities are in drought prone areas which exacerbate the hardships and expose them to multiple vulnerabilities.
“This support will further help deepen our engagement in reaching out to children and youths from hard to reach areas to ensure all children are in school and have access to inclusive learning opportunities, transition to secondary school and are empowered to make informed choices in life,” said Ms. Shaheen Nilofer, UNICEF Representative.
