No fewer than 14,000 schools have been closed across West and Central Africa due to violence and insecurity, the UN Aid Coordination Office, OCHA has reported.
OCHA said that by June, 2.8 million children – including many who are displaced – had been left without access to education, from Mali in the west to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the east.
Latest aid assessments indicate a volatile humanitarian situation in the region with security incidents affecting education rising a startling 103 per cent from March to June, compared with the start of the year.
The UN aid office also reported a slight increase in the number of schools closing from March to June, compared with the previous three-month period, and a small additional number of internally displaced people and refugees – adding to pressure on services.
OCHA highlighted that a “huge” lack of funding continues to hamper the humanitarian response.
It said that only around a quarter of children in affected areas had access to education in the latest period under review, compared with one in two earlier in the year.
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