Education Cannot Wait: A Hope for Somali Children Caught by Crises
Quality Education shouldn’t be limited to privileged few but should be accessible everyone - ECW
Somali Regional State is one of the nine regional states plus two city Administrations that make Ethiopia. It is one of the four regions that are least developed in Ethiopia’s context the like Somali, Binshangul Gumuz, Afar and Gambella. From the very beginning, the education of this region was struggling with political instability, Dishonesty, challenges of climate change policy exclusion from the federal government.
The region which was facing all the above problems; the conflict that erupted between Somali and Oromia become plus of its long list problems when many children education was disrupted by this conflict and collected into concentrated Internal displaced Peoples camp while others who were in Drought-induced IDPs Children don’t have the full Basic Social services they deserved to get like; Education which gives children the opportunity to reach their potential and full fill their dreams no to mention they get durable solutions. Then the Global Education Goal- SDG4 of a funding a good quality public education which was is too tall for the region to implement in peacetime looked lost.
It was my dismay when early 2019 Ethiopia Prime Minister H.E Abiy Ahmed Addressed to Ethiopia’s Members of Parliament and a woman from the MPs sitting somewhere in the Corridors of the house of people’s representatives appear from always asked question about Country’s IDPs to the Prime Minister. I can’t tell what happened to my PM H.E Abiy Ahmed who answered in a full mouth that 90% of the IDP are back to their original places while Somali Region is dealing with huge IDPs from Drought to Conflict induced are stretched from Edge to edge.
I am doubting one thing that took H.E PM Abiy Ahmed to answer like that, and it is like this; he was upset to make the headline as Nobel peace prize winner and of course, he made the headline later and be become the Laureate of 2019. Who knows? For sure if that is the case, securing the prize costed him to bury the fact that children and women who don’t create crises but paying the highest prices in the entire IDPs of the country he leads. Worrisome Indeed! https://www.addisinsight.net/2019/02/18/an-open-letter-to-ethiopian-prime-minister-dr-abiy-ahmed/
Education in Emergencies Funds
Ethiopia has an estimated in 1.4 million displaced and returnee children, mostly resulting from Conflicts and natural disasters whose education is disrupted by crises need quality education just like those who live in their normal places; the provision of education in emergencies for these children was boldly underfunded in the whole country in general and that of Somali Region in particular. So that due to these limited funds of Education in the humanitarian Assistance made them the chance of providing good Quality Education these thousands of children caught by crises no more than a dream. To solve this underfunded Education emergencies lots of education society from Government to United Nations, NGO and Individuals like me were making the headline that children caught by crises need proper education in Somali regional state and that of the wider Ethiopia.
Education Cannot Wait Visited Somali Regional State
The director of the Education Cannot Wait which is a new global fund to transform the delivery of education in emergencies - one that joins up governments, humanitarian actors and development efforts to deliver a more collaborative and rapid response to the educational needs of children and youth affected by crises https://www.educationcannotwait.org Yasmin Sharif visited Agaajin of Tuli Guuleed in Somali Region and met with Displaced/ Returnee Children and Youth on February 13, 2020, https://twitter.com/AbdiazizAlih/status/1228016791936475136?s=19.
Together with State minister of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education Tsion Teklu Shared the news of $165 Million Multi-year Resilience Education programme that will help 746,000 children in Ethiopia Education In Emergency Programme where the programme is officially launched in Addis Ababa with Government and Humanitarian partners with Education Cannot wait like; Save the Children and UNICEF.
Thanks to the Donors who are digging their pockets so deeply. No doubts that this programme will be hope and help of like no other for the children in Somali region that are caught crises and will lift their education from dust to where they can see the lights of their FULL FUTURE from where they are if it is properly managed and reached to those who are in need for it https://www.educationcannotwait.org/ethiopia-myrp-launch/
