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TOKYO: Japan and the United Nations Children’s Fund have signed and exchanged a letter regarding the “Plan for the Reopening of Elementary Schools in Conflict-affected Areas (UNICEF Cooperation)” for free financial cooperation of 735 million yen ($4.8 million) for the Republic of Sudan.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry reported that the letter was signed in New York by Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations Mikanagi Tomohiro and Mandeep O’Brien, Global Director, Public Partnership Division of the United Nations Children’s Fund.
All schools in Sudan were closed from April 2023 due to the ongoing armed conflict. Since then, only around 30 percent of schools have reopened, and it is said that about 90 percent of school-age children are not attending school.
In addition, the schools that were able to reopen were overcrowded due to the influx of internally displaced people.
There is also a shortage of teaching materials and important facilities such as toilets and water supply systems were destroyed and sanitary conditions have deteriorated.
The agreement aims to improve the learning environment for the reopening of elementary schools and strengthen the capabilities of educators in the five central, eastern and southern states of Sudan, where there are many schools that need to be restored due to direct damage from combat and the acceptance of internally displaced people.