A special exhibition recently opened alongside the 78th United Nations General Assembly, to celebrate the ten-year partnership between Education Above All Foundation (EAA) and UNICEF.
Called A Decade of Dreams, the event took place at the Danny Kaye Visitors’ Centre at UNICEF House, New York, and celebrated over five million out-of-school children and youth gaining access to quality education.
The exhibition was unveiled by EAA CEO and UNICEF Ambassador Sofia Carson. High-level government officials and policymakers, representatives from UN agencies, the private sector, education organisations, ambassadors and other partners of the EAA Foundation also came to join the milestone event.
A Decade of Dreams
The exhibition features installations of photos and videos of children and youth sharing their personal journeys. The images vividly illustrate the transformative support provided by UNICEF and the EAA Foundation in helping children reach their potential and realise their dreams.
UNICEF has worked with the EAA Foundation across several programmes including the Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) Program, which reached nearly 265,000 beneficiaries in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal. They also established youth centres across nine countries and supported thousands of young people trained in community engagement, along with thousands of educators.
Meanwhile, UNICEF in partnership with the EAA Foundation’s Al Fakhoora Program, responded to the 2014 Gaza conflict, directly assisting nearly 5,000 young people.
UNICEF also supported its PEIC Program, contributing to Education Under Attack, a global survey by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA). With PEIC’s involvement, GCPEA championed the Safe Schools Declaration in 2015, now endorsed by 118 states.
Paving the path to a brighter future
According to Carson, EAA and UNICEF have worked together in diverse countries, enabling vulnerable children, whether fleeing conflict or stricken by poverty, to learn, and thereby take up a path to a brighter future.
Those children raise their communities through the power of education, which brings greater prosperity, better health, and the ability to overcome challenges.
Education is an entryway to meet the many needs of children, especially when they are facing multiple deprivations. Children cannot learn when they are hungry or when they feel unsafe or when grappling with trauma.
Together, UNICEF and EAA will continue to turn the page on the future of millions of children and support quality education and the necessary services for the learning journey.
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