1.

The chance to learn can change a child’s life

https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/education/

Every child has the right to an education – whatever their background, gender or
ethnicity. Unicef wants to see a world where all children enjoy this right.

Yet every day, more than 61 million children don’t attend their primary schools. Without the
opportunity to learn, children can’t develop to their full potential. They’re more likely to be
trapped in cycles of poverty, poor health and forced labour – often in dangerous
environments.

Unicef supports innovative programmes that give the most vulnerable children the chance to
learn. We work with governments, communities and parents to enable every child to access
a quality education.

Every year we help millions of children get an education – for example by providing
textbooks and classroom kits, or by setting up child-friendly spaces where children can keep
learning, even during a conflict or natural disaster.

Breaking down barriers to education

Cousins Nabila and Gisma started attending classes at a Unicef-supported learning centre in
Khartoum, Sudan in 2016. For both girls it was their first experience of going to school. “Most
of the students have never received education before, and they have a huge desire to learn,”
says Egbal, a volunteer teacher at the centre.

The centre is one of over 2,500 across Sudan, designed for children who’ve never attended
school, who’ve dropped out of school or who are so far behind they can’t return to
mainstream education without first catching up on missed years of learning.

In Sudan and all over the world, we work with governments and communities to remove the
barriers which stop children attending school, and to make sure all schools are child-centred,
inclusive, safe and healthy places – in other words, child-friendly!

2. Climate change is endangering children and threatening their futures

https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/children-and-climate-change/

Climate change puts children’s most basic rights at risk, seriously affecting their access to
health, food, water, clean air, education and protection. Around the world, the growing
number of extreme weather events is putting more and more children’s live’s in danger.
Every year, environmental factors take the lives of 1.7 million children under five.

For an even greater number of children, these events mean a reduced chance of a happy,
healthy future. When floods hit, schools and health clinics are destroyed. When droughts
occur, children spend less time in school because they have to walk miles to collect water.
Rising sea levels and toxic air pollution turn children’s communities into hazardous
environments to grow up in.
These aren’t problems that can wait. They are problems right now, and Unicef is working
tirelessly to help solve them.

Protecting and empowering children in the face of climate change

Solving these problems is central to Unicef’s mission to realise the rights of every child –
especially the most vulnerable. We respond rapidly to natural disasters, providing children
with the care, supplies and protection that could save their lives. We are committed to
providing a safe environment for every child to grow up in.

But children deserve more than protection. With the right support they can be empowered to
become agents of change who can shape their own future. That’s why Unicef is providing
communities with access to green technologies and promoting the use of sustainable energy.

Giving children a voice in the fight for their environment

Children everywhere deserve to have a say in their future and we’re fighting for their right to
be heard. In the UK we’ve been campaigning for children’s right to breathe clean air,
pressuring the government to reduce toxic air levels. In Zambia, child-led advocacy
programme Unite4Climate is empowering children to become climate ambassadors. And in
places like Za’atari Refugee camp in Jordan ‘Start-up’ events are equipping children with the
skills they need to design innovative solutions to the challenges they face.

Unicef fights to make sure children’s voices are central to high-level discussions about
climate and the environment. We use our unrivalled influence to work with governments in
190 countries striving to ensure that they stick to their climate and environment goals and
help them to develop even more ambitious programmes that better protect children.