UNICEF: 15 million out-of-school children in the Middle East and North Africa

UNICEF: 15 million out-of-school children in the Middle East and North Africa

Students in a classroom in Iraq (File)

New York: The Middle East Online

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned in a report released Thursday that there are currently 15 million out-of-school children in the Middle East and North Africa, mainly in because of conflicts, and that number is expected to increase by about 5 million by 2030.
"There are 15 million out-of-school children in the MENA region, many of them because of conflict," the report says. "Without urgent investments in health care, education, employment and participation," she warned, by 2030, "we will have 5 million boys and girls additional unschooled ". "The unemployment rate will rise by 11% among young people and the disappointment among them will also increase."
"The MENA population will more than double in the first half of the 21st century." An unprecedented percentage of the region's population will move on to the most productive phase of their lives. "" This provides an opportunity to achieving a demographic dividend – economic growth as a result of demographic change, "he said, adding that" this changing age structure represents a historic opportunity to invest in human capital and stimulate growth. economic, but this is subject to the establishment of appropriate budgets for policies and properly applied in the framework of a stable social and political "
Such policies, such as "improving access to health care, protection, education and meaningful participation, will enhance productive employment opportunities and increase income by population, which will stimulate growth and increase wealth, "he said.
According to the report, there are currently 124 million young people in the MENA region, where children and young people under 24 make up nearly half of the region's population.
More than a third of young people in the Middle East, about 37 percent, live in fragile and conflict-affected countries. The region also includes "58% of refugees and about half of the world's IDPs".
"Of the 23.5 million children in the preparatory year in the region, at least 3.5 million are out of school and 2.9 million are likely to give up," the report says.
The region has the highest youth unemployment rate in the world: 29% in North Africa and 25% in the rest of the region.
The organization called for "increase investment in early childhood development, in appropriate and quality education and actively involve adolescents and youth" and to invest more in education preparatory and skills development.

Middle East

Students