NEW YORK, Aug 26 (IPS) – Statement by Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, on the 7th anniversary of the Rohingya crisisSeven years ago, a brutal campaign of violence, rape and terror was unleashed against the Rohingya people in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Villages were burned, families were killed, widespread human rights violations were reported and an estimated 700,000 people – half of them children – fled their homes to seek refuge in Bangladesh.
Today, Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh is home to the largest refugee camp in the world, with nearly a million children, women and men living in makeshift settlements. The crisis is a horror for humanity. And while the Government of Bangladesh and other strategic partners are supporting the response, resources are stretched and access to essential services is scarce.
As the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), together with its strategic donor partners, the government, UN agencies and civil society, has supported holistic education opportunities for both Rohingya and host community children in Bangladesh since November 2017. Funding of more than US$50 million, provided by a consortium of partners – including government partners, PLAN International, Save the Children, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNICEF and other local partners – has reached more than 325,000 girls and boys with quality education. Over the years, the programmes have provided learning materials to almost 190,000 children, provided financial support to more than 1,700 teachers and renovated more than 1,400 classrooms and temporary learning spaces.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, refugee camp fires and other urgent emergencies, programming in Bangladesh quickly adapted and enabled more than 100,000 girls and boys to participate in distance learning programs during the height of the pandemic.
For refugee girls like JannatThese investments provide nutritious school meals, integrated learning opportunities, catch-up classes, and safety and comfort in a world gone mad.
We must not forget Jannat and the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya girls like her who yearn for nothing but safety and freedom. Our investment in their education is an investment in peace, enlightenment and security in the entire region. Above all, it is an investment in the rights of the Rohingya people and other persecuted groups who face human rights violations and attacks around the world.
Despite strong donor support – as evidenced by this powerful joint statement by Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States after visiting the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in May this year – the Rohingya crisis is fast fading into oblivion.
The Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis Joint Response Plan 2024 calls for a total of US$852 million in funding, including US$68 million for education. To date, only US$287 million has been mobilized for the plan. Even more worrying, only 12.8% has been mobilized for the education response, according to OCHA Financial Tracking Service. What we need to realize is that our investments in education are investments in health, food security and skills development. Together with other actions, it is a cornerstone on which all other Sustainable Development Goals can be achieved.
As we commemorate seven years of persecution and attacks, we must demand that perpetrators be held accountable for human rights violations. We must also create conditions for the safe return of the Rohingya to their homeland. Furthermore, we must uphold the rule of law and expect humanity for those whose lives have been torn apart by this brutal crisis.
Join ECW and our partners in urgently mobilizing additional resources to offer Rohingya girls and boys – and other children caught up in emergencies and protracted crises around the world – the promise of a quality education. They deserve nothing less.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
