UN and UNICEF respond to claims by Houthi authorities that UNICEF, UNESCO and partners are colluding to destroy Yemen's education system : UN News
Editor's note : This story remains quite confusing. While both the UN and UNICEF have responded to charges that UNICEF is "colluding to destory" the country's education system, we have so far not been able to learn who made this charge, when, and why. It is an important issue to follow, however, since the UN statement ties the issue of the education programme to the arrest and detention by Houthi authorities of UN staff.
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"Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, dismissed the allegations, stating “such false statements are baseless, and further threaten the safety of staff and hinder our ability and our partners ability to serve the people of Yemen.”
"Since 2021, UNICEF and partners have been working to ensure quality education for Yemen’s children through the Restoring Education And Learning (REAL) programme. This national partnership – with the Ministry of Education, the World Bank, the Global Partnership for Education and others – has provided critical support, including paying regular incentives to over 40,000 teachers and rehabilitating more than 770 schools.
It also supplied schoolbags and educational materials to over half a million children, provided regular school meals to over 600,000 students, and supported over 9,000 teachers with professional training, among other investments.
“With over 4.5 million children out of school in Yemen, UNICEF calls on the Sana’a authorities to lead a constructive and collaborative approach, working together with all partners to address the pressing needs of all children,” Mr. Dujarric said."
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"Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, dismissed the allegations, stating “such false statements are baseless, and further threaten the safety of staff and hinder our ability and our partners ability to serve the people of Yemen.”
"Since 2021, UNICEF and partners have been working to ensure quality education for Yemen’s children through the Restoring Education And Learning (REAL) programme. This national partnership – with the Ministry of Education, the World Bank, the Global Partnership for Education and others – has provided critical support, including paying regular incentives to over 40,000 teachers and rehabilitating more than 770 schools.
It also supplied schoolbags and educational materials to over half a million children, provided regular school meals to over 600,000 students, and supported over 9,000 teachers with professional training, among other investments.
“With over 4.5 million children out of school in Yemen, UNICEF calls on the Sana’a authorities to lead a constructive and collaborative approach, working together with all partners to address the pressing needs of all children,” Mr. Dujarric said."
"More than three months have passed since the Houthis (also known as Ansar Allah) arbitrarily detained 13 UN personnel, in addition to members of civil society, national and international NGOs, as well as diplomatic missions.
Additionally, four UN staff detained in 2021 and 2023 remain in detention.
“The Secretary-General reiterates his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all UN personnel and partners, who are arbitrarily detained in Yemen,” Mr. Dujarric said.
“In the meantime, those detained must be treated with full respect for their human rights, and they must be able to contact their families and contact their legal representatives,” he added."
In June more than 50 UN, NGOs and INGOs national staff were detained within the framework of the Houthi government capturing a network of spies working for the CIA and Mossad. They attacked all the development sectors and lately focused on education - the REAL project (funded by GPE and WB and implemented by UNICEF, UNESCO, Save the children and WFP) being seen as destroying the education system (using curriculum & teachers, collecting data for spying, etc.). It is not very clear why now the education sector specifically, but I think it is because it is attracting substantial donor funding that is especially connected to the WB (in addition to being a major and influential development sector).
ReplyDeleteIt is so regrettable to hear that any Yemeni authorities accuse UNICEF of subverting the education system. Over the years UNICEF has done so much for education in Yemen from helping build community schools to training teachers as well as UNICEF's first major joint project with the World Bank in Education. Surely this is not about UNICEF and the UN subverting education but in the words of our guru colleague Tarzi Vittachi "The first law of the universe: Everything is about something else". It seems necessary to understand the real reasons behind this false accusation.
ReplyDelete