THE CHILDREN OF THE LAKE CHAD CRISIS

MILLIONS OF BOYS AND GIRLS ARE AT RISK – IN CHAD, WE FIND STORIES OF HOPE AND REDEMPTION ON THE EDGE OF ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST-PRESSING HUMANITARIAN SITUATIONS

By Education Cannot Wait

April 20^th, 2019

Story originally published on Education Cannot Wait in April 2019. For updated analysis view Education Cannot Wait's 2019 Annual Report.

The numbers of displaced children, refugee children, and children living without access to education in the Lake Chad Region are staggering. Violence in the region has closed 1,000 schools, and educational opportunities for 3.5 million children are at risk.

To put these astounding numbers into context, 3.5 million is about the number of people that live in Connecticut today, and it’s the total population of Uruguay.

One of those 3.5 million children is Ibrahim Mahamadou. Ibrahim could be your son, or your nephew, or your cousin. Bright-eyed and energetic, Ibrahim is seven now. When he arrived in the Dar es Salam Refugee Camp in Chad, it was the first time he’d ever attended school in his life.

Ibrahim Mahamadou, 7 years old, sitting in a classroom with his friends in a school at the Dar es Salam refugee camp. Photo © UNICEF / Chad.

Thanks to UNICEF, children received backpacks and school supplies. Photo © UNICEF / Chad.

“I like going to school because I make a lot of friends. We learn how to read, to write, and to count. We play and we get lots of presents too,” says Ibrahim.

With support from a broad international coalition and the Government of Chad, Education Cannot Wait, a newly created global fund for education in crisis, has already reached over 150,000 children like Ibrahim in Chad. This includes 69,000 girls. In the neighboring Central African Republic, the Fund has reached some 65,000 children, including 31,802 girls, and a newly announced US$2.5 million grant will reach some 194,000 displaced children in Nigeria, 52 per cent of whom are girls.

“When you look at the scale of this tragedy, we are only scratching the surface. Much more needs to be done if we are going to reduce human suffering and address the root causes of the crisis. Education is an absolute priority and it is the most reliable and sustainable solution to empower a new generation who will be responsible for socio-economic development, peace and stability in the region,” says Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait.

The Fund is currently helping to facilitate the development of a new multi-year education programme by aid organizations in coordination with the Government of Chad to deliver reliable education for the boys and girls enduring the consequences of the rampant violence in the region.

The Lake Chad crisis – affecting the countries of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria – is characterized by ongoing violence, population displacement, and loss of livelihood. Forced conscription of child soldiers, abuse, and sexual violence, among other atrocities, are being reported at alarming rates. Hundreds of thousands of families have fled the violence, drought, and the real-and-present risk of famine, across the border to Chad from the Central African Republic, Nigeria, and Sudan, leaving millions of children in need of educational support.

‘Here in Dar es Salam [camp], we have food to eat, we go to school, we play with friends, we feel safe. When I get older, I would like to become a doctor to look after sick people.’ – Aisha Mahamadou. Photo © UNICEF / Chad

HOPE ON THE HORIZON

But in the eye of the storm, there is hope. The Government of Chad has demonstrated a strong willingness to receive refugees and integrate them into the Chadian system, and in the refugee camps, boys and girls are finding safety and security.

Aisha Mahamadou came to the Dar es Salam Refugee camp in January 2015, fleeing a Boko Haram attack on her village near Baga, Nigeria. She was one of the lucky ones, as hundreds of civilians were reportedly killed. Boko Haram is also well known for their practice of capturing girls and forcing them into marriage – essentially a form of modern-day slavery that has people frightened and unwilling to send their girls to school for fear of kidnapping.

“Here in Dar es Salam [camp], we have food to eat, we go to school, we play with friends, we feel safe. When I get older, I would like to become a doctor to look after sick people,” says Aisha.

To support children like Aisha and Ibrahim, Education Cannot Wait worked with Chad’s Ministry of National Education and Civic Promotion and UNICEF, engaging through the UNICEF partnership with international NGOs including Fondazione Acra, the Jesuit Refugee Service and Refugee Education Trust International, to support the delivery of sustainable, equitable and inclusive quality education services for children and youth from within the refugee and host communities.

Kaka Mahamat, 12, in the Dar Es Salam Camp. Photo © UNICEF / Chad

Through a US$10 million grant, community mobilization activities have taken place and classrooms have been built, boys and girls have received backpacks and school supplies, teachers have been hired and trained, and students have begun attending classes – sometimes for the first time in their life.

“Last year we studied in tents. When there was too much sandy wind, the teachers used to send us back home. We could not even hear what he says. Now, we study in new classrooms, and we come to school happy,” says 12-year-old Kaka Mahamat, who lives now in the Dar es Salam Camp.

Malam Sani, 55, teaches the First Grade. Photo © UNICEF / Chad

TRAINING TEACHERS

Over 2,500 teachers have been trained through the programme, and many teachers received subsidies during a prolonged teacher strike to ensure continued education for children like Kaka.

“They killed my son and burned my house in Nigeria. I really have nothing left there. Teaching helps me to take my mind off things. They say Western education is sinful but I believe every child has a right to education especially learning languages, this is what will help them support their communities,” says Malam Sani, who teaches First Grade in the Dar es Salam Camp.

“The Government of Chad, at both the central and decentralized levels, has played a key role in coping with constantly changing realities and protecting the boys and girls that are most at risk,” says Sherif. “As we build on our initial investment and look to more integrated multi-year programming, we will continue our engagement with the community and government to mainstream and accelerate these pilot interventions, addressing both the immediate and long-term needs in the education sector. Only then can we ensure that no child is left behind, but rather at the center and front of our collective efforts.”

2019 Update

ECW investments in Chad were designed to tackle not only barriers to the provision of education services but also financial barriers faced by crisis-affected households, to make education more affordable.

The comprehensive package of services provided in Chad, which also included support to income-generating activities, led to a decrease in the dropout rate from 23.7 per cent in 2015/2016 to 17.9 per cent in 2019 in ECW-supported communities.

Learn more about the impact of ECW funded programming in Chad in our 2019 Annual Report.

Access high-resolution photos from this story and our full media library on ECW’s FLICKR

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