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BEING LEARNER works in to save children’s lives, defend their rights and to help them fulfill their potential from early childhood through adolescence across the globe.And we never give up.

1) CHILD PROTECTION AND INCLUSION

EVERY CHILD HAS THE RIGHT TO GROW UP IN A SAFE , INCLUSIVE AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

BEING LEARNER works with partners to promote policies and expand access to services that protect all children.

1.1) CHILDREN UPROOTED

Millions of children are on the move. Some are driven from their homes due to conflict, poverty or climate change; others leave in the hope of finding a better life to live, a better home to live. Far too many encounter danger, detention, deprivation and discrimination on their journeys,at destination or upon return.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The suffering and exclusion of migrant and displaced children is not only unacceptable but also preventable.A child is a child,no matter why he/she leaves home, where he/she comes from, where he/she is, how they got there etc..Every child deserves protection, care and all the support and services he/she needs to thrive.

Yet, too often migrant and displaced children face numerous challenges in transit, at destination and upon return,often because they have few or almost no options to move through safe and healthy pathways whether on their own or with their families.These include violence,abuse,exploitation and discrimination.They miss out on education and proper medical care,and don’t find it easy to feel at home in the communities they arrive in;trying to learn a new language and integrate into a fresh culture can make things especially hard.These difficulties have lasting physical psychological effects and prevent children on the move from reaching their full potential.

THERE WERE 31 MILLION DISPLACED CHILDREN GLOBALLY BY THE END OF 2018.

1 IN 8 INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS IS A CHILD.

REFUGEE CHILDREN ARE 5 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE OUT OF SCHOOL THAN OTHER CHILDREN.

UPROOTED CHILDREN AND COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The spread of COVID-19 possess yet another threat to uprooted children.Even without a pandemic;migrant ,refugee and internally displaced children are regularly confronted with threats to their safety and well being.But the frequently cramped conditions manybof them live in – with limited access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene- make them, particularly vulnerable to the immediate and secondary impacts of infectious diseases like COVID-19.

Migrant workers ,refugees, and their families often live in the most disadvantaged urban areas,where access to essential services and safety is almost limited.Migrant and refugee children can also be confined to detention centres, live with disabilities, or be separated from their families, making them difficult to reach with accurate information in a language they understand.

>> THE SOLUTION <<

Children should be safe from violence and be able to grow up with their families.They shouldn’t have to miss school or be scared to visit the doctor or volunteers.They shouldn’t be discriminated against because of where they come from.They should be able to feel at home – wherever they find themselves and wherever the home is.

BEING LEARNER works every possible way to make sure that the migrant, refugee and displaced children and their rights are protected.We run child-friendly spaces– safe places where migrant and displaced children on the move can play, where mothers can rest and feed their babies in private, where separated families can reunite.We support every national and local governments to put in place laws, policies, systems and services that are inclusive of all children and address the specific needs of migrant and displaced children, helping them to thrive and live a better world.We help keep families together,We work to end child immigration detention by helping governments put in place alternative community and family based solutions.We work with governments, private sector, and the civil society.We empower children and youth on the move with cutting-edge solutions, partnering with them and making their voices heard.

1.2) GENDER EQUALITY

Girls and Boys see gender ineuality in their homes and communities everyday– in textbooks, in the media and among the adults who care for them.

Parents may assume uneual responsibility for household work, with mothers bearing the brunt of caregiving and chores.The majority of low-skilled and underpaid community health-workers who attend to poor children are also women,with limited opportunity for professional growth.

And in schools too, many girls receive less importance and support than boys to pursue the studies they choose.This happens for a variety of reasons-The safety,hygiene and sanitation needs of girls may be neglected, barring them from regularly attending class.Discriminatory teaching practices and education materials also produce gender gaps in learning and skills development.As a result, nearly 1 in 4 girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are neither employed nor in education or training- compared to 1 in 10 boys.

Yet, in early childhood,gender disparities start out small. Girls have higher survival rates at birth are more likely to be developmentally on track, and are as just likely to participate in preschool.Among those who reach secondary school,girls tend to outperform boys in reading across every country where data are available.

But the onset of adolescence can bring significant barriers to girls’ well-being.Gender norms and discrimination heighten the risk of unwanted pregnancy,HIV and AIDS, and malnutrition.Especially in emergency settings and in places where menstruation remains taboo,girls are cut off from the information and supplies they need to stay healthy and safe.

In its most insidious form,gender ineuality turns violent.Some 1 in 20 girls between the ages of 15 and 19- around 13 million have experienced forced sex.In times of both peace and conflict, adolescent girls face the highest risk of gender- based violence.Hundreds of millions of girls worldwide are still subjected to child marriage and female genital mutilation.- even though both have been internationally recognized as human rights violations.And violations can occur at birth,like in places where female infanticide is known to persist.

Harmful gender norms are perpetuated at the highest levels.In some countries, they become entrenched in laws and policies that fail to uphold- or that even violate-girl’s rights like laws that restrict women from inheriting property.Boys also suffer from gender norms.Social concepts of masculinity can fuel child labour, gang violence,disengagement from school,and recruitment into armed groups.

Despite major hurdles that still deny them equal rights,girls refuse to limit their ambitions.Since the signing of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995-the most comprehensive policy agenda for gender equality.-the world has seen uneven progress.

More and more girls are attending and completing schools and colleges,and fewer are getting married or becoming mothers while still children themselves.But discriminating and limiting stereotypes remain rife.Technological change and humanitarian emergencies are also confronting girls with new challenges,while old ones- violence,institutionalized biases,poor learning and life opportunities-persist.That’s why girls from all walks of life are boldly raising their voices against ineuality.Girl-led movements are stopping child marriage and genital mutilation,demanding action on climate change,and trail blazing in the fields of science,technology,engineering and math(STEM)- asserting their power as global-change makers.

>> WHAT IS BEING LEARNER DOING TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY ?

Reducing inequality strengthens economies and builds stable, resilient societies that give all individuals – including boys and men – the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

BEING LEARNER builds partnerships across the global community to accelerate gender In all areas of our work, we integrate strategies that address gender-specific discrimination and disadvantages.

This means partnering with national health sectors to expand quality maternal care and support the professionalization of the mostly female front-line community health workforce. It means promoting the role of women in the design and delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) ecosystems. And it means working with the education sector to ensure girls and boys thrive in their learning and find pathways to meaningful employment.

For adolescent girls especially, BEING LEARNER invests in skills building to further their economic empowerment – as entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders. We focus on providing learning environments at a time and place that suit girls’ individual circumstances. We also work on assistive technologies for girls with disabilities, and on the expansion of digital platforms, vocational training and apprenticeships.

Supporting girls’ pathway from education to employment requires more than learning opportunities. It requires keeping girls safe from all forms of violence, in and out of school.

Our targeted initiatives to prevent and respond to gender-based violence help end child marriage, eliminate female genital mutilation, provide safe spaces, support menstrual health management, deliver HIV and AIDS care, meet psychosocial needs and more. We invest in innovative models that protect even the hardest-to-reach girls – like virtual safe spaces and apps that allow them to report violence and connect to local resources for support.

To guide investment and programming decisions at the national and global levels, we collect, quantify and share data critical for understanding ongoing and emerging challenges and solutions. What’s more, we tap into the power of youth to shape solutions for their own generation.

2) CHILD SURVIVAL

Every child has the right to survive and thrive

BEING LEARNER has helped reduce child mortality all over the world by working to reach the most vulnerable children, everywhere.

2.1) EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

The challenge

Faster than we ever thought: the first years of a child’s life set the stage for all future growth.

In the earliest years of life, especially from pregnancy to age three, babies need nutrition, protection and stimulation for healthy brain development. Recent advances in neuroscience provide new evidence about a baby’s brain development during this time. As a result, we know that in their earliest years, babies’ brains form new connections at an astounding rate – according to Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child more than 1 million every single second – a pace never repeated again.

In the brain-building process, neural connections are shaped by genes and life experiences – namely good nutrition, protection and stimulation from talk, play and responsive attention from caregivers. This combination of nature and nurture establishes the foundation of a child’s future.  Yet too many children are still missing out on the ‘eat, play, and love’ their brains need to develop. Put simply, we don’t care for children’s brains the way we care for their bodies.A mix of factors determine why some children receive the nutrition, protection and stimulation they need, while others are left behind. Poverty is a common part of the equation. 250 million children under five in low- and middle-income countries risk not reaching their development potential because of extreme poverty and stunting.

Often, the most disadvantaged children are least likely to have access to the essential ingredients for healthy development. For example,  frequent or prolonged exposure to extreme stress – such as neglect and abuse – can trigger biological response systems that, without the buffer of a protective adult, create toxic stress,  a response that can interfere with brain development. As the child grows, toxic stress can portend physical, mental and behavioural problems in adulthood.

Conflict and uncertainty also play a role as children younger than five in conflict-affected areas and fragile states face elevated risks to their lives, health and well being. Oversight and inaction have a high price and long-term implications for the health, happiness and earning potential as these children become adults. They also contribute to global cycles of poverty, inequality and social exclusion.

Despite the need, early childhood programmes remain severely underfunded with lacklustre execution. Government investment in early childhood development is low. For example, in 27 sub-Saharan African countries measured, only 0.01 per cent of gross national product was spent on pre-primary education in 2012.

There is also little public understanding of the importance of a child’s first years and slight public demand for policies, programmes and funding.

Building your baby’s brain

Some key facts:

• Lack of nutrition in early childhood leads to stunting, which globally affects nearly one-in-four children younger than five.
• Risks associated with poverty – such as undernutrition and poor sanitation – can lead to developmental delays and a lack of progress in school.
• Violent discipline is widespread in many countries, and nearly 70 percent of children between two and four were yelled or screamed at in the past month.
• 300 million children younger than five have been exposed to societal violence.
• For a child in a low- or middle-income country, poor early development could mean they earn around one-quarter less in income, as an adult.
• For a country, poor early childhood development could mean economic loss; in India, the loss is about twice the gross domestic product spent on health.

The solution

Fast-growing brains need family-friendly policies and environments to keep them going.

Good news: the right interventions at the right time can bolster development, break intergenerational cycles of inequity and provide a fair start in life for every child. For babies born into deprivation, intervening early, when the brain is rapidly developing, can reverse harm and help build resilience. For children with disabilities, it means making sure they have access to the individual, family and community services available to all children; combined with programmes that address each child’s specific needs.

We can support #EarlyChildhoodDevelopment by expanding existing programmes, especially health services. For example, The Lancet series found it would cost only an additional US$0.5 per person annually to add two services to support nurturing care of children into an integrated maternal and child health and nutrition service package.

Thanks to the compelling scientific evidence and sustained advocacy, governments and society are beginning to realize the criticality of investing in the earliest years of a child’s life. In 2015, early childhood development was included in the Sustainable Development Goals, reaffirming its growing status in the global development agenda. This built on earlier efforts which saw early childhood development included in the Convention on the Rights of the Child which states that a child has a right to develop to “the maximum extent possible” and recognized “the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.”

We must act urgently to make investing in early childhood development a priority in every country to achieve the 2030 goals. Investing in early childhood development is a cost-effective way to boost shared prosperity, promote inclusive economic growth, expand equal opportunity, and end extreme poverty. For every $1 spent on early childhood development, the return on investment can be as high as $13.

But parents need time and support to create a loving and safe environment to give their babies the ‘eat, play and love’ they need, and to help build their babies’ brains.

That’s why BEING LEARNER is working to increase investment in family-friendly policies, including paid parental leave and access to quality, affordable childcare;  it makes good sense for governments because it helps economies and businesses, as well as parents and children.Investing in family-friendly policies makes good sense for businesses too; giving parents flexibility creates a happier and more productive workforce, and allows them more time to build the brains of the future.

The time to act is now; together, we can make the #EarlyMomentsMatter for every child.

2.2) HIV/AIDS

The challenge

In the global effort to end HIV and AIDS, children and adolescents continue to fall behind. New cases of infection still occur at birth, during breastfeeding and in adolescence; and not enough children and adolescents living with HIV have access to testing and life-saving treatment. As a result, hundreds die every day.Most new infections in children and adolescents occur in sub-Saharan Africa, the epicenter of HIV and AIDS. To break the cycle of new infections and deaths, children, their mothers and adolescents must be tested for HIV and linked to treatment. A top priority for BEING LEARNER is addressing structural factors – poverty, lack of education and violence – that put people, especially adolescent girls and young women, at risk of acquiring HIV.

While the progress in HIV response has been promising, children continue to be affected by the epidemic. These are some of the statistics around HIV infections among children and adolescents in 2018:

• 2.8 million children and adolescents are living with HIV
• Only 54 per cent of infected children and adolescents are on HIV treatment as compared to 82 per cent of pregnant women living with HIV
• 360,000 new infections were estimated among children and adolescents
• 120,000 children and adolescents died from AIDS-related causes

Treatment and prevention for children and adolescents are the two areas of UNICEF’s work to stop HIV infections and AIDS deaths. Making sustainable gains in this work requires increased commitment, better policies and more funds at the global, regional and national levels.

The solution

HIV affects genders, age groups and cultures in different ways, so programmes must be targeted depending on the context. What works for adolescent girls in a rural community is different from what works in a city, or from what works for adolescent boys or people who inject drugs.

The most effective, equitable and sustainable HIV-related interventions are those in which the human rights of HIV-affected communities are seen as fundamental priorities.

BEING LEARNER is committed to ending AIDS by 2030, in line with global targets, and to making HIV services easier to access. We work with a range of partners at all levels, from grassroots organizations to governments to global partners in HIV response.

Preventing new HIV infections and improving access to testing and treatment saves lives and are the pillars of BEING LEARNER’s HIV response. We have set ambitious targets for ending AIDS in our Strategic Plan results and Start Free Stay Free AIDS-free frameworks, in which we play a global leadership role.

BEING LEARNER’s HIV and AIDS programme

Our programme focuses on the following three areas:

• Mother-to-child transmission: Women living with HIV must have access to services to keep them alive and stop the transmission of HIV to their babies during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding. Continued support, testing and retesting mothers and their babies during these times can prevent transmission.
• Paediatric treatment and care: Without treatment, half the babies living with HIV will die before their second birthdays. Early testing in infants and immediate treatment is the top priority for babies exposed to HIV. However, some lab tests can take weeks for a mother to receive the result of her baby’s HIV status. BEING LEARNER is scaling up point-of-care diagnostics throughout sub-Saharan Africa by which infants can now be tested and started off on treatment the same day. We are also working to locate, link and retain those children who did not receive early testing or continued treatment and care.
• New HIV infections in adolescents: BEING LEARNER promotes a combination of biomedical, behavioural and structural interventions to reduce HIV infections among adolescent girls and boys. These innovative solutions include pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), HIV self-testing, HIV sensitive protection services and mobile communication to improve access to treatment and care.

2.3) NUTRITION

Proper nutrition is a powerful good: people who are well nourished are more likely to be healthy, productive and able to learn. Good nutrition benefits families, their communities and the world as a whole.

Undernutrition is, by the same logic, devastating. It blunts the intellect, saps the productivity of everyone it touches and perpetuates poverty.

As UNICEF documented in its 2013 report, ‘Improving Child Nutrition: The achievable imperative for global progress’,  the scope of undernutrition goes beyond the crises we see in the headlines.  Stunting affects 165 million children under five years old – one out of every four.

Stunting – or low height for age – traps people into a lifelong cycle of poor nutrition, illness, poverty and inequity. The damage to physical and cognitive development, especially during the first two years of a child’s life, is largely irreversible. A child’s poorer school performance results in future income reductions of up to 22 per cent on average. As adults, they are also at increased risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

In 2012, an estimated 25 per cent of children under five years of age were stunted globally, or 162 million children, which represents a 37 per cent decrease from an estimated 257 million in 1990. However, a new Lancet article on nutrition from 6 June 2013 shows that progress is not fast enough, so what is needed now is strong, global commitment and leadership to accelerate efforts.

There are many compelling reasons to increase efforts. A group of leading economists, the Copenhagen Consensus, has consistently confirmed that taking action on undernutrition is the single most important, cost-effective means of advancing human well-being. Thus would accelerate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, save lives and should be a top global priority.

Proper nutrition helps give every child the best start in life. BEING LEARNER is committed to scaling up and sustaining coverage of its current high-impact nutrition interventions in the programme areas of: (1) Infant and Young Child Feeding; (2) Micronutrients; (3) Nutrition Security in Emergencies; and (4) Nutrition and HIV/AIDS.  BEING LEARNER is committed to a life-cycle approach, to using partnerships and to creating and enhancing integrated interventions to maximize effectiveness, such as combining vitamin A supplementation with other accelerated child survival interventions through Child Health Events.

2.4) HEALTH

All children have the right to survive and thrive. Yet, children and adolescents still face significant challenges surviving past infancy and developing to their full potential.

In 2018, 6.2 million children and young adolescents died, mostly from preventable causes. Children under the age of 5 accounted for 5.3 million of these deaths – nearly half of whom were newborn babies.

What’s more, some 810 women die each day from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Many of these deaths can be avoided. But inadequate access to quality health care and life-saving supplies still contributes significantly to preventable maternal and child deaths.Disease, environmental hazard and the devastating effects of conflict, insecurity and demographic change also take a toll.

More than one in four deaths of children under the age of 5 can be attributed to unhealthy environments. Air pollution, chemicals and electronic waste also threaten the lives of older children and adolescents.Adolescents are more exposed to accidents and injuries, unintended pregnancies and the physical, mental and economic repercussions of birth defects, HIV and AIDS, and non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease.

For children and adolescents in emergency and humanitarian settings, health risks escalate. Life-saving health services are often unavailable or inaccessible, making newborns, children, adolescents and mothers particularly vulnerable to harm.

In the coming decades, demographic changes threaten to strain global health systems. Some 2 billion births are projected worldwide between 2018 and 2050. Africa remains the world’s only region anticipating a substantial increase in births, with repercussions for thinly stretched health systems. In Asia, ageing populations are also expected to put pressure on health systems.

2.6) WASH — WATER, SANITATION, HYGIENE

Clean water, basic toilets and good hygiene practices are essential for the survival and development of children. Today, there are around 2.4 billion people who do not use improved sanitation, and 663 million who do not have access to improved water sources.

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Without these basic needs, the lives of millions of children are at risk. For children under five, water- and sanitation-related diseases are one of the leading causes of death. Every day, over 800 children die from preventable diseases caused by poor water, and a lack of sanitation and hygiene.

In times of crisis children are particularly vulnerable; BEING LEARNER responds and provides emergency relief to those in need.

Today, 663 million people don’t have access to clean water; 2.4 billion people don’t have access to improved sanitation and 946 million people defecate in the open. 7 out of 10 people without access to improved sanitation and 9 out of 10 people who have to go in the open live in rural areas.

The Sustainable Development Goals, a set of goals to guide global development to 2030, include a specific goal to “ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. In the pursuit of this goal and fulfilling the rights of children, BEING LEARNER works to reach the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

WASH IN A CHANGING WORLD

WASH and health
Diseases related to water and sanitation are one of the major causes of death in children under five. Without access to clean water and basic toilets, and without good hygiene practices, a child’s survival, growth and development are at risk.

Over 800 children under age five die every day from preventable diarrhoea-related diseases caused by lack of access to water, sanitation and hygiene. Undernutrition is associated with repeated diarrhoea or intestinal worm infections as a direct result of inadequate WASH conditions. A vicious cycle exists between diarrhoea and undernutrition, especially for children.

Children with diarrhoea eat less and are less able to absorb nutrients from their food; in turn, malnourishment makes them more susceptible to diarrhoea when exposed to human waste. Poor sanitation and hygiene have also been linked to stunting, which causes irreversible physical and cognitive damage. In 2014, 159 million children under five were stunted: that’s 1 in 4 children worldwide.

Millions of other children are made sick, weakened or are disabled by other water- and sanitation-related diseases and infections including cholera, malaria, trachoma, schistosomiasis, worm infestations and guinea worm disease.

WASH and education
Access to clean water and basic toilets, as well as good hygiene practices, play an important role in education.Many children — mostly girls — spend hours every day collecting water and miss out on the opportunity to attend school. Globally, women and children spend around 200 million hours every day, collecting water. But the issue is not just lack of access to water; lack of access to basic toilets, and gender segregated toilets, in schools cause a multitude of issues. Adolescent girls are particularly affected by this, as they need a clean and private space to be able to manage their menstrual hygiene with privacy and dignity.

WASH affects more than just the ability of children to attend school. many children suffer physical and cognitive damage from water- and sanitation-related diseases that impact their performance at school and their overall educational attainment.

WASH and economics
The impact of poor WASH conditions extends beyond health and education, and impacts on the economy through health spending and labour division.If we were able to provide basic, low cost water and sanitation facilities to countries in need, the world would save around US$263 billion a year. If everyone in the world had access, the reduction in diarrhoea-related disease alone would save $11.6 billion in health treatment costs, and would generate $5.6 billion in labour spending.

3) EDUCATION

Every child has the right to learn

BEING LEARNER works around the world to support quality learning for every girl and boy, especially those in greatest danger of being left behind.

On any given school day, over 1 billion children around the world head to class.

More children and adolescents today are enrolled in pre-primary, primary and secondary education than ever before. Yet, for many of them, schooling does not lead to learning.A lack of trained teachers, inadequate learning materials, makeshift classes and poor sanitation facilities make learning difficult for many children. Others come to school too hungry, sick or exhausted from work or household tasks to benefit from their lessons.

The consequences are grave: An estimated 617 million children and adolescents around the world are unable to reach minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics – even though two thirds of them are in school.This learning crisis is the greatest global challenge to preparing children and adolescents for life, work and active citizenship.

SCHOOLING DOES NOT ALWAYS LEAD TO LEARNING.WORLDWIDE,THERE ARE MORE NON-LEARNERS IN SCHOOL THAN OUT OF SCHOOL

What’s more, roughly one in five school-aged children are not in school at all.

Children and adolescents are excluded from education for many reasons. Poverty remains one of the most obstinate barriers, with children from the poorest households almost five times more likely to be out of primary school than those from the richest.

Children with disabilities and from ethnic minorities are also more likely to be left behind.

For girls in some parts of the world, education opportunities can be especially limited. Only 66 per cent of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education. Harmful gender norms can have severe effects for boys, too.

Location also keeps children from school. Children from rural areas are more than twice as likely to be out of primary school than their urban peers. In conflict zones, 27 million children are out of school.

Without skills for lifelong learning, children face greater barriers to earning potential and employment later in life. They are more likely to suffer adverse health outcomes and less likely to participate in the decisions that affect them – threatening their ability to build a better future for themselves and their communities.

BEING LEARNER’s work in education

All children have the right to go to school and learn, regardless of who they are, where they live or how much money their family has.

Quality learning requires a safe, friendly environment, qualified and motivated teachers, and instruction in languages students can understand. It also requires that learning outcomes be monitored and feed back into instruction.

BEING LEARNER works to provide learning opportunities that prepare children and adolescents with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive.     

Key areas of our work in education include:

• Access: Gender-equitable access to quality education from early childhood to adolescence, including for children with disabilities, marginalized children and those living in humanitarian and emergency settings.
• Learning and skills: Quality learning outcomes and skills development that come from strong education systems and innovative solutions.
• Emergencies and fragile contexts: Improved learning and protection for children in emergencies and on the move.

The lesson of the learning crisis is clear: Business as usual is not improving learning outcomes. A new, more radical approach that focuses on enhancing learning is long overdue and forms the basis of BEING LEARNER’s global education strategy.   

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