Organised by the DSAI Humanitarian Action Study Group (HASG)
Speakers:
- Andrea Breslin and Amy Folan, Concern Worldwide
- Veronica Crosbie, Dublin City University
- Emilia Sorrentino, Plan
Around the world, displacement is one of the biggest barriers to education. Refugee children are five times more likely to be out of school than other children. Many children and young people affected by humanitarian crises face huge challenges accessing primary, secondary and further education. As the global community works towards the universal goal of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all (SDG4), this panel brings together perspectives on education for displaced and refugee populations internationally, as well as here in Ireland, to discuss challenges, opportunities and innovative responses.
Tahira Begum, 26, teaches Rohingya girls at the UNHCR-funded Ashar Alo Junior High School, in Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh. She is Bangladeshi and has taught at the school since completing her masters degree in Chittagong in 2014. It is difficult for Rohingya girls to obtain an education because of requirements to help parents with work at home, social pressures against educating girls, early marriages and a general lack of access to higher education. UNHCR supports as many girls as possible to attend school in Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh where many of the 688,000 Rohingya who fled Myanmar in 2017 sought safety. Unaccompanied minors, widowed mothers and multiple generations of families were among those fleeing persecution and violence. Many arrived traumatised and in need of life-saving support. UNHCR is providing protection, food, clean water, shelter, health care, trauma counselling and reunification for separated families.
Credit: © UNHCR/Roger Arnold