UNHCR and Enel together to guarantee primary education for Syrian children. Enel was the first Italian company to respond to the appeal launched by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, as part of the UN Global Compact, the most important network of companies in the world committed to responding to the main challenges related to sustainability and the protection of human rights. Following the call for support to the humanitarian efforts of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Syria, the Group has decided to support the UNHCR's “EDUCATE A CHILD” project, which guarantees access to primary education for refugee and displaced girls and boys in the country for the three-year period 2015-18.
Enel, through its non-profit organization Enel Cuore, will contribute to guaranteeing access to education for 2016 for over 20.000 children. According to the latest data from the Syrian Ministry of Education, the war has forced an estimated 2,4 million children out of school since 2011, with enrollments down by 38%. The impossibility of continuing their studies is one of the most important factors that pushes Syrians to seek asylum in other countries.
In the 2012 – 2013 school year, thanks to “Educate a Child”, 9.164 refugee children in Syria, who were outside the school system, had the opportunity to attend school. UNHCR's goal is to continue to ensure access to education for these first 9.164 children and to expand the program to another 200.000 children displaced in Syria in the three-year period 2015-2018.
The project aims to fill the existing gaps in school services, expanding their capabilities in a situation of absolute emergency and drama, providing the necessary school materials, hiring teaching staff, improving quality standards and involving local communities.
The program is based on 5 main areas of intervention:
– direct economic contribution to the most disadvantaged families in order to cover the annual school expenses of their children;
– counseling and school orientation activities;
– remedial courses for school years;
– training of teaching staff;
– recovery of school buildings.
Guaranteeing the right to education means not only guaranteeing a future for Syrian children, but also supporting families in guiding their children's education: a message that Enel has chosen on the basis of its principles of support for the community, especially those more vulnerable as children, to which he wanted to give an immediate response.
