Angelina Jolie joins £5.3 million UK initiative to help educate refugee children

HOLLYWOOD star Angelina Jolie on Monday (13) backed the £5.3 million UK drive to help kids and teachers in 10 of the poorest countries hosting refugees, including Pakistan, South Sudan and the Yemen.

She joined Baroness Liz Sugg, the UK’s special envoy for girls’ education, in urging other countries to support the initiative.

“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," said Jolie, an ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR.

The UK support will help at least 300,000 vulnerable refugee children to continue their education. It will allow UNHCR to make direct payments to 5,669 teachers in 10 refugee-hosting countries for seven months where urgent support is needed.

“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," Jolie said.

“Ensuring education for refugee children is something we can make happen, if we all come together.”

The UK had previously announced £15 million of crisis funding from the aid budget to UNICEF and £5 million to Education Cannot Wait, for handwashing supplies, remote lessons and protection services to support the world’s most vulnerable children during the pandemic.

“Education must be prioritised in the global recovery from coronavirus. This epidemic is not just a health crisis, it is an education crisis, especially for refugee children," said Baroness Sugg.

“Supporting every child’s right to 12 years of quality education is one of the best investments the UK can make to end the cycle of displacement, poverty and conflict, as we recover from coronavirus. We urge our partners to match our ambition.”