Afghanistan: GPE launches a USD 110 million aid package to promote schooling for children.

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) has announced USD 110 million to support children’s education in Afghanistan, Khaama Press reported.

The network stated in a press release that this programme is expected to benefit more than 7.66 million children across Afghanistan through support provided by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Save the Children.

According to the network, GPE has earmarked this amount of assistance for the next two years to enhance the basic skills of schoolgirls and schoolboys.

Laura Frigenti, CEO of the Global Partnership for Education, emphasised that these contributions will help improve children’s access to the education they need, stating, “We are very pleased to continue our support for education in Afghanistan,” Khaama Press reported.

The network’s statement further mentions that USD 59.5 million of this aid will be channelled through UNICEF. In comparison, USD 50 million will go through Save the Children to ensure access to quality education, especially for marginalised children, including girls, in various areas.

The Global Partnership for Education, noting its joint commitment to ending the learning crisis worldwide, added that it mobilises partners and financial resources to support education in nearly 90 low-income countries.

This announcement comes at a time when the state of education in the country has been a cause for concern, particularly following the rise of the Taliban administration and the ban on girls’ education beyond the sixth grade, Khaama Press reported.

Earlier this month, Iceland announced that it is set to provide 40 million Icelandic Krona to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund, according to a statement from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Khaama Press reported.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reiterated that Iceland has been contributing 175 million Krona to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund since 2020, in addition to its most recent donation, according to Khaama Press.

Earlier, Afghanistan’s Taliban-appointed Acting Minister of Education, Habibullah Agha, criticised the poor quality of education in the country’s religious schools, Tolo News reported.

Habibullah Agha asked the Taliban and religious scholars to pay serious attention to raising the quality of education.