The coronavirus threatens to keep millions of refugee girls out of school
On the International Day of the Girl Child, let’s pledge to protect the safe space school provides girls in the East and Horn and Great Lakes region of Africa — and around the world.
By Clementine Nkweta-Salami
October 11 is the International Day of the Girl Child, a day that means a lot to me. For more than two decades, I have worked with refugees across Africa. I have seen how being forced to flee their homes due to violence or persecution affects young girls. For too many, their educational journey ends. With little money and no universal access to education, families make tough choices about which children can attend school. Many girls are forced to stay home to take care of chores and siblings, or married off far too young. Refugee girls face the risk of sexual and gender-based violence, early pregnancies and more. The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the risks.
These outcomes are not inevitable. The best way to guarantee a better future for refugee girls is to invest in their education. Education keeps girls healthy, helps them rebuild their lives and strengthens entire communities. It is essential for achieving equality for all girls, my goal as an International Gender Champion, and the mother of a young daughter.
We have a lot of work to do. Refugee children are far less likely to go to school than other children. The numbers shrink as refugees reach the age of secondary school and beyond– especially for girls. Less than 3 per cent of all refugees attend university or other institution of higher learning.
In the East and Horn and Great Lakes region of Africa, where I work, the situation is dire. With over 1.8 million refugee school-aged children in the region, based on data collected primarily in refugee camps we found that only about 58 per cent of refugee children and young people were enrolled in an educational institution. Only 34 per cent of all refugee children enrolled at the secondary level, and one-third of the small number of refugees enrolled in tertiary and vocational schools, were girls.
That was before the pandemic.
I am deeply concerned. The pandemic, and its socio-economic consequences, threatens to undo the small but significant gains the world has made in getting more girls into school. Especially worrying: an estimated one in five refugee girls may never return to school as a result of this pandemic. In Tanzania, we discovered that only about half of refugee girls returned to secondary school when it re-opened in June.
As the virus threatens to plunge families deeper into poverty, many parents are choosing to send their school-aged daughters to work. Others force their young daughters into marriage hoping to improve their family’s finances. In the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region, we are seeing an increase in teenage pregnancies, early marriage and domestic violence now that many girls are no longer within the protective school environment.
When I heard the International Day of the Girl Child theme this year was “my voice, our equal future,” I immediately thought of Alix Marie Himbaza and Joelle Hangi, two young women who fled war and persecution yet managed to beat the odds. These two inspiring women were able to share their stories with leaders from government, civil society, the private sector and refugee communities last year – Joelle at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, and Alix when she was chosen to be a jury member for the NGO Innovation Awards. Both Alix and Joelle won scholarships to attend university, studied hard, and found a new world opened up to them.
I was so impressed with Alix’s tenacity. As a young refugee studying at university in Rwanda, she spotted an advertisement for a communications internship at UNHCR in Kigali and submitted her application on time even though her internet connection kept failing and her laptop crashed. Having completed her internship with UNHCR, Alix now works as a refugee community centre manager, fulfilling her dream of working with young people.
Joelle’s first year of university in 2014 ended abruptly when she and her family were forced to flee violence in Eastern Congo to seek refuge in Kenya. She learned English and received scholarships to complete her associate’s degree. But Joelle needed an internship to go further. Over and over, she made it to the final round of the selection process, only to be rejected because of her refugee status. Finally, she applied for an internship with UNHCR in Nairobi and, after a similarly competitive process to the one Alix faced, landed the position. She’ll be the first in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree.
Investing in education for refugee girls allows them to reach their full potential and contribute to society — many could someday bring their skills and confidence back to their home countries to rebuild. Alix and Joelle offer a clear message of hope to young refugee women who are determined not to let their refugee status define them. I know from my own experience there are thousands of other motivated refugee girls who just need support and an opportunity to shine.
Young women who reach university raise healthier families and ensure their children go to school. If all women could access secondary and higher education, child marriage and infant and maternal mortality rates would drop and preventable child diseases and deaths could be halved. School provides a safe space where girls can grow and learn with the support of strong social networks — all the more important when a young woman’s transition into adulthood is interrupted by instability and violence.
Let us give meaning to the International Day of the Girl Child. I call upon my fellow humanitarians, gender champions, partners and refugee communities to make sure every girl goes to school. We must amplify the voices of young women such as Alix and Joelle so that government leaders and policy makers see what happens when girls get the tools they need to thrive. Governments must include refugee children in national education systems and open up tertiary education opportunities so that families don’t feel they must sacrifice their daughters’ education to put food on the table. Corporations, foundations and individuals should create or donate to scholarships for refugee girls who want to attend university or vocational school. Money for childcare, school materials, transportation and even sanitary pads can give these young women the freedom they need to study.
We must work together to ensure equality for everyone, including refugee girls.
Clementine Nkweta-Salami serves as UNHCR’s Director for the East and Horn and Great Lakes Region of Africa and was named an International Gender Champion earlier this year, joining a network of more than 250 leaders from international organisations, permanent missions, embassies, civil society and the private sector who have committed to breaking down gender barriers.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.
