The paper shows that urgent action is needed to bring education to the 28.5 million primary school age children out of school in the world’s conflict zones.
Globally, the number of children out of school has fallen from 60 million in 2008 to 57 million in 2011. However, the benefits of this slow progress haven’t reached children in conflict-affected countries. They now make up 50 per cent of children who are denied an education, up from 42 per cent in 2008.
The paper also shows that 44 per cent of the 28.5 million children affected live in sub-Saharan Africa, 19 per cent in South and West Asia and 14 per cent in the Arab States. The vast majority— 95 per cent live in low and lower-middle income countries. Girls, who make up 55 per cent of the total, are the worst affected, as they are often victims of rape and other sexual violence that accompanies armed conflicts.
In addition to the boys and girls out of school, almost a third of the world’s out-of-school adolescents (20 million) live in conflict affected countries. Some 54 per cent of these are women. The share of humanitarian aid for education has declined from 2 per cent in 2009 to just 1.4 per cent in 2011.