Tag: Education

The graduation of unified forces might be delayed again from its initial schedule as a body tasked with screening of forces at the training sites face logistical challenges.

“The screening committee is ready to begin its work, but it is still waiting for money from the National Transitional Committee (NTC). So, there might be a slight delay in the graduation of the forces because screening has to happen first,” Major General Lul Ruai Koang, a spokesman for the military, told Radio Tamazuj on Friday.

President Salva Kiir in July promised the graduation of the first batch of 53,000 unified forces, but this has not materialized due to lack of consensus on the unified military command structure among the parties in the unity government.

In mid-October, the Joint Defense Board, the body charged with overseeing the training and graduation of the necessary unified forces, said the graduation of the necessary unified forces will take place in the first week of November.

The body said it had resolved to start the screening of forces at the various training camps in Equatoria, Bahr el Ghazal, and Upper Nile regions before the graduation of forces.

However, Lul said the National Transitional Committee (NTC) led by President Salva Kiir’s security advisor Tut Gatluak has not yet prepositioned the necessary logistics required to facilitate the screening process.

“The committee tasked with screening of the forces is ready. So, once we receive the money, the committee will travel to the three regions to start its work. There are 18 training camps across the country, and three screening teams have already been set up,” said Lul.

According to the military spokesman, soldiers who deserted training sites over the past months have been asked to report back for screening to pave the way for the graduation of the first batch of the unified forces.

“I would like to inform the public that the delay in the graduation of the unified forces will not be too much, it will just be a slight delay. The graduation might take place within November,” said Lul.

Peace monitors have in the past expressed concern over dire conditions in training sites that have forced a sizable number of soldiers to desert due to lack of food, medicines and shelters.

Under the 2018 peace deal, South Sudan is supposed to graduate 83,000 unified forces drawn from the various parties to take charge of security during the ongoing transitional period.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

South Sudan’s Vice President for Service Cluster Hussein Abdelbagi has directed all armed forces in the Revitalised Government of National Unity to vacate all civilian areas especially schools with as soon as possible.

VP Abdelbagi’s press secretary Gabriel Kiir Amoi told Radio Tamazuj that directives were issued after reports that armed forces were still using schools as barracks in parts of the country.

He said if the armed forces including the South Sudan Peoples Defense Forces and opposition forces do not implement the order, the matter will be reviewed and appropriate measures are taken. He did not clarify ‘the measures’.

For his part, Major General Lul Ruai Koang, the SSPDF spokesperson denied receiving directives from the VP’s office but told Radio Tamazuj that, “I have not heard of that. We have orders from the army commander to all units of the armed forces, who live in civilian buildings, to evacuate those buildings before November.”

According to the 2018 peace agreement, all armed forces were expected to vacate all civilian spaces and assemble at various cantonment sites for integration ahead of the formation of the transitional government. However, the army unification process is lagging.

The continued occupation is also an impediment to the return of refugees and the internally displaced to their homes.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

‘Team Europe has to date contributed to more than 40% of the funding of Education Cannot Wait, and the new €25 million contribution from the EU will further support it to reach the most vulnerable children and bring them back to education.’

27 September 2021, New York – The European Union/European Commission today announced €25 million (approx. US$29.3 million) in new funding to support Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

The new funding brings the EU/EC total contributions to Education Cannot Wait to over US$62.3 million.

“We want all children to be born with the same opportunities. All too often, the fate and lives of our children are determined by the lottery of birth. This is why I am pleased to announce that Europe will be donating €25 million to the Education Cannot Wait global fund. An investment in education is an investment in a better world,” said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

“We must unite to put the SDGs back on track. As we continue to witness, we can never take access to education for granted. Team Europe has, to date, contributed to more than 40% of the funding of Education Cannot Wait, and the new €25 million contribution from the EU will further support it to reach the most vulnerable children and bring them back to education,” said European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen.

This generous, expanded support from the EU/EC was announced on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly during ECW’s High-Level Steering Group meeting today. Along with other notable contributions, this important new funding will accelerate the impact, scope and reach of ECW investments across more than 30 countries across the globe.

“I am deeply grateful for the generous and continued strong support to Education Cannot Wait’s mission by the European Commission. I would like to thank the EU and the people of Europe for making it possible to reach millions of children and youth left furthest behind in the most difficult circumstances of brutal conflicts, punishing climate-induced disasters and as dispossessed refugees. The European Union’s leadership in putting education first enables us to deliver with both speed and quality at a time when the world needs action to achieve universal and equitable education,” said Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait.

ECW’s Multi-Year Resilience Programmes and First Emergency Response investments have already reached 4.6 vulnerable children and adolescents. The Fund’s COVID-19 education in emergency response has provided distance learning, life-saving health messages and other support to an additional 29.2 million vulnerable girls and boys.

Armed conflicts, COVID-19, forced displacement, climate change impacts and protracted crises are pushing millions of vulnerable children and adolescents out of school and disrupting progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG4, which calls for universal, equitable education for all by 2030.

Source: Education Cannot Wait (ECW)

Armed kidnappers in Nigeria have released 28 of the more than 120 students who were abducted at the beginning of July from the Bethel Baptist High School in the northern town of Damishi.

Church officials returned those children to their parents at the school on Sunday. But the Rev. Israel Akanji, president of the Baptist Convention, said more than 80 other children are still being held by the gunmen.

So far 34 children kidnapped from the school on July 5 have either been released or have escaped from the custody of the gunmen. It is unclear when the other children will be released. The gunmen have reportedly demanded 500,000 Naira (about $1,200) for each student.

Akanji said the church did not pay any ransoms because it is opposed to paying criminals, but he added the church was unable to stop the children’s families from taking any actions they deem fit to secure their release.

A spokesman for the Nigerian Police, Mohammed Jalige, said security forces and civilian defense forces were on a routine rescue patrol July 12 around the forests near the village of Tsohon Gaya when they found three exhausted kidnapped victims roaming in the bush. Two other students escaped on July 20 when they were ordered to fetch firewood from a nearby forest. Jalige said they were undergoing medical examinations.

Gunman called bandits have carried out a spate of mass abductions from schools in northern Nigeria this year, mainly seeking ransoms.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who won election on hopes that he would tackle Nigeria’s security challenges, has not been able to do much in addressing the growing cases of mass abductions from Nigerian schools.

Source: Voice of America

Armed kidnappers have taken 140 students from their boarding school in northwestern Nigeria, local officials announced Monday.

Attackers opened fire on the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state early Monday, abducting most of the 165 pupils boarding there overnight.

Teachers at the school told reporters they don’t know where the students were taken.

Police in Kaduna state said they have rescued 26 people, including one teacher.

Monday’s abduction is one of many recent kidnappings, usually for ransom, that have hit schools in northern Nigeria.

Late last month, gunmen attacked a school in the northwest state of Kebbi, abducting at least 80 students and teachers.

Amnesty International reports about 600 schools in northern Nigeria have closed as a result of persistent attacks since late last year.

Earlier this year, the government promised more security deployment to schools. But teachers and activists in the country say their schools remain poorly protected.

Nigerian authorities have faced increased criticism over the kidnappings, one of the country’s many security challenges including the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, and a growing separatist movement in the southeast.

Source: Voice of America

June 15, 2021 (JUBA) – The UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday signed an agreement with South Sudan to provide meals to more than 530,000 children in schools across the country.

The WFP deputy country director for South Sudan, Adeyinka Badejo said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction is aimed at increasing enrollment, in addition to encouraging parents to keep children in school.

“We will be focusing on schools which are in more vulnerable areas where the level of food insecurity is high and where participation in education is low and where nutrition rates are concerning,” he told reporters in Juba.

For his part, the Undersecretary in the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, Kuyok Abol Kuyok said the project will enable them to provide school meals to over half a million children in school across the country.

“This program is one of the strategies we have to improve education in South Sudan and we are very grateful to the World Food Program and donors,” he explained.

The school feeding program was introduced before South Sudan attained independence from Sudan in July 2011 to enhance access to food.

Source: Sudan Tribune