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(c) Photo courtesy of Games for Change
Young girls playing a mobile game developed by Games for Change, Delhi, India.

‘Beyond School Books’ – a podcast series on education in emergencies

by Rudina Vojvoda

NEW YORK, USA, 1 June 2012 – Since their invention in the late 1940s, electronic games have been an integral part of our culture. But recently, games have been doing a lot more than just entertaining: They promote health, education and human rights, and bring about social change, among other things.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1016/Christine Nesbitt
Kinkole Primary school near Kinshasa, DRC.

By Taleen Vartan

NEW YORK, USA, 31 January 2012 – In 2011, UNICEF commissioned research to investigate the role of education in peacebuilding in post-conflict contexts. The resulting report, entitled The Role of Education in Peacebuilding: A synthesis report of findings from Lebanon, Nepal and Sierra Leone, is part of a knowledge generation study within the Back on Track programme on Education in Emergencies and Post-Crisis Transition. Back on Track is a five-year partnership between UNICEF, the Government of the Netherlands and the European Commission.

© UNICEF Philippines/2012/Maitem
Students at Consolacion Elementary School in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines, use UNICEF-provided school packs to resume their studies.

By Marge Francia

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines, 25 January 2012 – In City Central School, in Cagayan de Oro City, two teachers recently held their first day of classes since the devastating floods that swept through their community – even as their own futures looks uncertain.

Vivian Benedictos and Marilou Gambuta, co-teachers and best friends, share a first-grade classroom at the school. It is a space they not only teach in, but now also live in.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1770/Pirozzi
A teacher assists Julian Goaheh, 6, in a UNICEF-supported school in Ganta Town, Liberia.

By Rudina Vojvoda

NEW YORK, USA, 28 December 2011 – In 2011, significant strides were made in improving the education of children around the world: More children are now enrolled in primary schools than ever before. Still, in spite of remarkable progress, civil unrest and natural disasters have slowed down improvements in affected areas.

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© UNICEF Zimbabwe/2011/Chikerema
UNICEF trucks deliver secondary school textbooks to the UNICEF Zimbabwe Distribution Centre in Harare.

HARARE, Zimbabwe, 18 November 2011 –Following the successful distribution of 15 million textbooks countrywide, the Inclusive Government of Zimbabwe, UNICEF and the international donor community, will distribute an additional seven million textbooks to all 2,345 secondary schools while simultaneously launching the second phase of the Education Transition Fund.

The Education Transition Fund is an innovative multi-donor funding mechanism launched in 2010 by the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture, in partnership with UNICEF and the international donor community, to bridge the funding gap in the education sector during the transition period, from emergency to recovery.

By Eva Gilliam

MOGADISHU, Somalia, 9 November 2011 – For hundreds of thousands of displaced Somali children, daily life is a mixture of fear and insecurity. Communities break apart, as one by one families leave their villages to flee ongoing conflict. If they survive the journey to Mogadishu, life is not much easier, as they are faced with the daily challenge of finding food and shelter.