Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


UN Agencies Push to Reopen South Sudan Schools

Dimo Silva Aurelio

   JUBA , SOUTH SUDAN - Two United Nations agencies are calling on South
   Sudanese authorities to immediately reopen schools across the country,
   saying the damage being done to children forced to stay home outweighs
   the risk of catching the novel coronavirus.

   In a joint editorial released on Tuesday, children's agency UNICEF and
   UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
   Organization) argued that while it is important to protect children
   from COVID-19, children and schools are not the main drivers of the
   epidemic. COVID-19 is the disease brought on by the coronavirus.

   An estimated 2.2 million South Sudanese children are not attending
   school, and the longer schools stay closed, the less likely it is that
   children will return to the classroom, according to Tap Raj Pant,
   UNESCO's education chief in South Sudan.

   "If the schools are not reopened timely, there is a big risk of not
   having enrolled children again back to school, which will increase the
   number of out-of-school children in South Sudan," Pant told VOA's South
   Sudan in Focus program.

   Research indicates children are less likely to contract the coronavirus
   than adults, and less likely to become seriously ill, although they are
   capable of passing the infection to older people.

   Dr. Mohamed Ayoya, UNICEF's representative in South Sudan, said that if
   South Sudanese children are kept out of school for long periods of
   time, their lives are more likely to be tarnished by poverty and
   violence.

   "We have seen this during the Ebola time in West Africa, that their
   exposure to physical, emotional, and sexual violence increases, their
   mental health deteriorates and they become more vulnerable to child
   labor and they are less likely to break out of the cycle of poverty,"
   Dr. Ayoya told VOA.

   Even more worrisome, said Ayoya, is that girls who stay away from
   school for long periods of time often never return.

   Most projects aimed at helping strengthen the country's educational
   system have been put on hold since schools were closed due to COVID-19
   in March.

.