October 2010

Since the beginning of the month children in Haiti have streamed back to school amidst challenges in securing proper learning spaces, materials and teachers. The Global education cluster, the body designated by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) to lead education recovery in humanitarian response, has estimated that over 2,890,000 children will be back in school for the 2010-2011 school year.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-1206/Roger LeMoyne
A girl smiles during class in a tent at Celie-Lilavois Primary School in Port-au-Princel. Some 4,700 schools were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake, affecting some 700,000 school-age children. The new school year brings both challenges and opportunities for girls in Haiti.

By Anna Azaryeva

NEW YORK, USA, 13 October 2010 – As schools open for the new academic year in Haiti, the hope is to bring all boys and girls to school, those who attended before the earthquake struck in January 2010, and those hardest to reach, who will go to school for the first time.

©Ushahidi
Ushahidi maps up-to-date crisis information coming from Haiti via SMS, e-mail, radio, phone, social media and other sources.

By Anna Azaryeva

NEW YORK, USA, 11 March 2010 – The earthquake that shook Chile on 27 February reportedly killed hundreds of people causing widespread damage to homes, hospitals, schools, roads and other infrastructure.

Rescue and recovery efforts are underway while the start of the school year has been suspended for a week.

Meanwhile, intensive aid operations continue in Haiti, which was struck by a catastrophic earthquake just weeks before. The quake affected an estimate of 5,000 schools and approximately 700,000 of primary school-aged children around the country.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-0167/NooraniSteve Cherival (left), 8, and Richard Cherival, 5, play with a board puzzle from a UNICEF Early Childhood Development kit at the Lakay Don Bosco Centre, a residential care facility for children in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.

By Roshan Khadivi

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, 17 February 2010 – The first day of school in a UNICEF tent classroom was a happy day for Yolanda Senatus, 9 – and a far cry from the tragic day she had experienced just a month earlier.

“I like to draw, sing and play with my friends. I am so happy today,” said Yolanda, who lost both her home and her school in the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January.

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© Chris Hondros/Getty Images - Boy pours water on his head in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Nearly half the Haitian population are under the age of 18.

By Pi James

NEW YORK, USA, 21 January 2010 – The death toll from the 12 January earthquake in Haiti continues to rise, despite the worldwide humanitarian efforts underway. With nearly half of the Haitian population under the age of 18, children have been significantly affected by this crisis.

Nine-year-old Marie Yolene Milord speaks with a Haitian volunteer at a field hospital at the MINUSTAH
© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-0052

“I don’t know how, perhaps in tents or the open-air…but even in wartime, schools must function…For the mental health of the population, the children and students need to go back to normal life. They will have hot meals and psychological treatment at schools.” -Joel Jean-Pierre, Minister of Education, Haiti

The following are links highlighting education response and information on the crisis in Haiti.