• New programme to support 158,000 out-of-school children to access education and learning opportunities

Doha, Qatar 6 March 2025 – Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, a global development and education foundation and UNICEF announced a new programme to support over 158,000 out-of-school children in Sudan to access quality education, learn and develop life-skills through the provision of safe learning spaces with in-person and e-learning facilities, alongside health, and child protection services.

Sudan is the world's largest education crisis. With more than five million children displaced, and schools frequently targeted or damaged, only 13 per cent of school-aged children are enrolled or regularly attending school. The use of at least 3,000 schools as shelters for displaced families has further restricted access to education for millions of children across the country.

“EAA Foundation and UNICEF have partnered globally for over 13 years, helping more than five million children around the world to overcome the barriers to education. In Sudan, we are committed to ensuring that children are given the opportunity to access education, can remain in education, continue learning, and build a brighter future, despite the challenges that they face.” said Mary Joy Pigozzi, PhD. Executive Director of EAA Foundation’s Educate A Child programme.

“Uprooting children from their homes and disconnecting them from learning, can have devastating consequences for their wellbeing and futures.  Thanks to UNICEF’s longstanding partnership with EAA Foundation, including this new commitment, we can continue delivering much-needed learning opportunities and other critical services to children displaced by conflict,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative to Sudan.

Schools can provide a safe environment for learning and protect vulnerable children from abuse and physical dangers. In school, children have a chance to learn, play and interact with their friends, overcome trauma and regain some sense of normalcy. Education can help to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and violence and prevent harmful practices, such as child labour and child marriage, and protect adolescents from recruitment by armed forces and groups.

This new project between UNICEF and EAA Foundation’s Educate A Child, valued at US$3.3 million will support children to resume their education, despite the ongoing challenges they face, by creating safe and accessible learning spaces. Bringing children back to learning will contribute to addressing the learning crisis in Sudan.