The fifth International Day of Education was celebrated on 24 January 2023 under the theme “to invest in people, prioritize education”. Building on the global momentum generated by the UN Transforming Education Summit in September 2022, this year’s Education Day called for maintaining strong political mobilization around education and chart the way to translate commitments and global initiatives into action.
Education for all, including the most vulnerable, must be prioritized to accelerate progress towards all the Sustainable Development Goals against the backdrop of a global recession, growing inequalities and the climate crisis.
In this context, the 2022 UNHCR Refugee Education Report draws on data from more than 40 countries across the world, enabling UNHCR to paint the clearest picture yet of the state of refugee education – and illustrate how refugee children and youth are falling behind their non-refugee peers when it comes to access to an inclusive quality education.
The West and Central Africa region is no exception to this trend, as during the past school year, refugee access rates to school were lower than national access rates at all levels of education, while approximately 60% of primary and secondary aged refugees were out of school – see the annual regional update and dashboard.
Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees