"It is my passion that every child in Africa goes to school.”
Nelson Mandela
To Nelson Mandela, Nobel Peace Laureate and former President of South Africa, this campaign is a significant contribution to his legacy and vision for the education of African children and the alleviation of poverty particularly in the rural communities of the continent.
“Education is the doorway to freedom, democracy and development.” says Mr. Mandela
About the Campaign
"Schools for Africa" is a joint campaign to promote education for children in Africa. The joint international campaign “Schools for Africa” was launched by
- The Nelson Mandela Foundation
- UNICEF
- Hamburg Society for the Promotion of Democracy and International Law
The campaign aims to accelerate access to quality basic education for children, with a special focus on girls, orphans and vulnerable children. In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, approximately 45 million children do not go to school.
This means that almost every second child grows up behind an invisible wall of ignorance, poverty and discrimination. “Schools for Africa” will contribute to the right of every African child to education.
What we do
Support school construction, provide educational materials, train teachers
With your help, “Schools for Africa” will support the construction and reconstruction of schools and the provision of education materials in six African countries, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
It will develop training programmes for teachers and strengthen school governance and management. In the six countries, schools will be established mainly in rural areas.
In Angola, for instance, communities themselves build classrooms from burnt clay bricks. UNICEF provides cement and timber and coordinates the work. All the schools will be provided with access to clean running water and latrines.
Blackboards, books, pens and benches will also be provided. Training courses and training centres for teachers will be organized to facilitate the learning of new teaching and school management methodology.
Children's and youth clubs will be established at the schools to provide information on prevention and protection from HIV and AIDS infection.
To achieve this, a network of partners from local and regional administrations, United Nations and non-governmental organizations, school committees, corporations and ministries will be created.
The most important action is to mobilize responsibility for the proper functioning of the schools by the villages and communities themselves.
Campaign Background
While more children are enrolled in school all over the world today, the chances of attending classes decrease in Sub-Saharan African countries.
According to the latest estimates by UNICEF, at least 40 per cent of boys and 44 per cent of girls in this region do not go to elementary school. In rural areas in particular, there are not enough functional schools and trained teachers.
And even if the children are enrolled, many drop out of school early. Their families are so poor that children often have to work to help support the family. Many girls also do not go to school because many schools do not have separated sanitation facilities.
HIV and AIDS further reduces opportunities for many children to go to school. Some eleven million children have already been orphaned by the deadly disease.
If parents fall ill because of HIV and AIDS infection, if they are not able to work and need medical help, they can no longer afford to send their children to school. Girls in particular have the greater burden, first with caring for the ill parents and then, after their death, taking care of their brothers and sisters.
Often, they have to drop out of school. Without education, children orphaned by AIDS are not able to provide for their own living, easily fall prey to exploitation and may end up on the streets.
For further information on the "Schools for Africa" Campaign, please contact Kieran O'Brien in UNICEF Ireland on 01-878 3000 or by email today.