ID :
69114
Sun, 07/05/2009 - 15:32
Auther :

Khalifa Foundation, UNICEF to promote education for children in Afghanistan

Abu Dhabi, July 5, 2009 (WAM) - The Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation (KBZF) Thursday signed an agreement with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support children in Afghanistan through a number of humanitarian and development initiatives. Mohammed Haji Al Khoori, KBZF Executive Director, signed the agreement for his side, while Dr. Ayman Abu Laban, UNICEF Representative in the Gulf Area, also signed for his outfit.
Through this agreement, both parties will work together to support educational programmes in Afghanistan. Statistics show that more than 2 million Afghan children do not attend primary school and literacy levels are declining. Afghanistan is in urgent need for 100,000 qualified primary school teachers and especially females who represent only 28% of the total number of teachers. Knowing that, if existing at all, schools are usually in very poor conditions and the percentage of students versus teachers is very high.
This support from the Khalifa bin Zayed Foundation will be utilised for the procurement and distribution of teaching and learning materials for over 2.6 million students of grades 1-3 and for over 114,000 primary teachers and that will contribute to increase primary school net enrolment for girls by 20 per cent in the next five years period. Besides the direct contribution in increasing the educational access for the children, the provision of teaching and learning materials will help ensure regular attendance of children at schools, improve smooth teaching-learning practice in classroom and thus help in quality improvement.
This agreement is the second after the one signed with OXFAM last Tuesday to provide relief support to Afghanistan and which is in line with the foundation's objective to build strategic partnerships with international institutions and organisations that focus on empowering poor communities especially in the areas of health and education.

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