Angelina Jolie is set to warn that children around the world that have been left without an education during the coronavirus pandemic ‘may never set food in a classroom again’ unless action is taken.
The actress will call for children to be helped to ensure they are still being given access to schooling at a high-level virtual event on refugee education.
Speaking at a Unesco and UNHCR round-table event, she will tell them: ‘For millions of children and youth, schools are a lifeline of opportunity as well as a shield. Classrooms offer protection – or at least a reprieve – from violence, exploitation and other difficult circumstances.
‘Without urgent practical assistance, some of the children left without schooling worldwide due to the coronavirus may never set foot in a classroom again. We must find ways to try to ensure access to continuity of education for young people across the world.
‘Ensuring education for refugee children is something we can make happen, if we all come together.’
Angelina is a special envoy for UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency.
Around 1.5 billion children in more than 150 countries are not in school, compared to around 260 million worldwide prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Boris Johnson’s special envoy for girls’ education, Baroness Liz Sugg, will also announce £5.3 million of new UK aid to support the salaries of more than 5,500 teachers in 10 of the world’s poorest refugee-hosting countries at the event.
It is hoped that this will help at least 300,000 vulnerable refugee children continue their education.
She will say: ‘Education must be prioritised in the global recovery from coronavirus. This epidemic is just not just a health crisis, it is an education crisis, especially for refugee children.
‘Without school and an education they will be unable to rebuild their lives and achieve their full potential.
‘Supporting every child’s right to 12 years of quality education is one of the best investments the UK can make the end the cycle of displacement, poverty and conflict, as we recover from coronavirus. We urge our partners to match our amibiton.’
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