© UNICEF-NYHQ/2009/KavanaghYouth journalist Tereza Kitale, 17, in attendance at the radio workshop sponsored by UNICEF Radio, Southern Sudan Radio and UNICEF's Education in Emergencies and Post-Crisis Transition Programme.

In the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child – a landmark international agreement on the basic human rights of all children – UNICEF is featuring a series of stories about progress made and challenges that remain. Here is one of those stories.

JUBA, Southern Sudan, 21 August 2009 – When Tereza Kitale looks up at the sky over the town of Juba, Southern Sudan, she sees her future.

© UNICEF-NYHQ/2009/Kavanagh
Michael Lual, 17, is a student at Juba Day School in Southern Sudan. Despite a government promise that top students would receive help with their school fees, Michael and his family are still struggling to pay for his education.

In June, UNICEF Radio, in partnership with UNICEF’s Back on Track programme, UNICEF’s Southern Sudan country office, and Southern Sudan Radio, conducted a week-long workshop for ten young people from Juba, Southern Sudan. Five boys and five girls were chosen from local schools and learned how to record, edit, write and produce a radio piece of their own.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2004-0269/Christine NesbittA man teacher addresses a class of girls, in a temporary classroom in the Kassab IDP camp near the town of Kutum, 116 km from capital of North Darfur.

NEW YORK, USA, 16 November 2007 – Providing education to children in regions and societies affected by conflict – or emerging from it – is a major challenge.