Archive for category: Children

Information and stories addressing children.

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How Child Support Ghana is Tackling Child Poverty

Child Support Ghana
Child poverty remains a significant challenge in Ghana, particularly in rural communities and parts of the north. UNICEF’s 2025 social protection budget brief estimates that 28% of Ghanaian children live in monetary poverty, while 73.4% experience multidimensional poverty, meaning they lack access to several essential services or living conditions at once. These measures are different from child food poverty: UNICEF reports that 2.4 million children under five experience food poverty, lacking a sufficiently diverse diet.

Child Support Ghana

Child Support Ghana, founded by Kwame Jones Jay-Jay, has launched a campaign calling for a national Child Benefit Allowance Programme. The group wants the government to introduce the proposed benefit by 2030, with financial support intended to help families meet children’s needs for nutrition, health care and education. The campaign is an advocacy effort; the proposed allowance is not yet an established national program. The Ghana News Agency reported the initiative in July 2026.

A Campaign for Children’s Well-Being

Jay-Jay has appealed to Parliament, charities, faith-based institutions, businesses, families, schools and the media to support the proposal. He argues that a regular child benefit would be an investment in Ghana’s future rather than simply a handout. He has cited the different forms of deprivation affecting Ghanaian children, including inadequate diets, barriers to schooling and limited access to essential services.

The campaign also highlights regional inequality. UNICEF’s June 2026 analysis of public spending on children found that public resources are distributed unevenly, with the youngest and poorest children particularly disadvantaged. This strengthens the case for examining how income support could complement existing health, nutrition and education services.

Campaign Launch and Community Support

The campaign gained local support at Asafo Pechi M/A Basic School, where school leaders and members of the Atwemamena community endorsed its petition. Assistant headteacher Christiana Nador described children arriving at school without adequate meals, footwear, uniforms or exercise books. She said a well-designed allowance could help struggling families meet basic educational and nutritional costs. A July 25, 2026 report documented the appeal and the community’s endorsement.

Looking Ahead

Child Support Ghana is seeking wider backing for its petition and a government commitment to develop a child benefit program. No resulting reduction in child poverty can yet be attributed to this campaign. However, its proposal has opened a discussion about how direct family support, alongside public services, could help protect children from hardship. Existing efforts such as Ghana’s Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty program provide a policy context for that discussion. UNICEF’s 2026 assessment reports improvements in food security and educational outcomes among households supported by that program.

– Sophia Creo

Sophia is based in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, United States and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Mobile Library in Syria: Bringing Books to Conflict-Affected Children

Mobile Library in Syria
Life in Syria remains profoundly challenging after years of civil war and the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in 2024. This includes increased poverty rates and a devastated education system. However, one mobile library in Syria is helping children reconnect with books, art and cultural activities after years of disruption. Through books, art and performance, it offers an escape from the harsh nature of reality.

Refugee Crisis and Poverty

Despite the collapse of the Assad regime in 2024, Syria remains the world’s largest refugee crisis. In December 2025, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recorded 5.4 million refugees, with a further 5.5 million Syrians internally displaced as of April 2026. Syrians are still feeling the remnants of the civil war as 90% of people live below the poverty line, making humanitarian assistance essential.

Impact on Education

One aspect of Syria’s infrastructure that the war has severely impacted is the education system. The war resulted in the damage or complete destruction of more than 7,000 schools, leaving more than 2 million children out of school. As a result, the number of children who have never entered formal education is rising, limiting their future opportunities and sparking concern for their long-term development. Additionally, the psychological trauma of war and limited supplies pose significant challenges to children in Syria. However, mobile libraries in Syria ensure that children who have grown up with war have a connection to knowledge, enrichment and entertainment.

Mobile Cultural Bus Initiative

In 2025, Syria’s Ministry of Culture launched its initiative known as the Mobile Cultural Bus. The objective is to bring books, art and fun cultural activities to children and their families who do not have access to safe community spaces. This mobile library in Syria, run exclusively by volunteers, focuses efforts in refugee camps and rural areas, where access to books is severely limited. It consists of two buses, each equipped with approximately 1,200 books. This mobile library in Syria has visited the governorates of Qunetira, Deir Ez-Zor and Tartus, as well as the rural outskirts of Syria’s capital Damascus.

This initiative has received funding from publishing houses and libraries across the world, while organizations on the ground have ensured that the bus continues to support as many children as possible.

Connecting Children to Culture

Through reconnecting children to books, this mobile library in Syria also offers them the opportunity to learn about the country’s rich history and heritage. This is achieved through traditional crafts such as soap making and glass blowing. By expanding services beyond books, the Mobile Cultural Bus offers an escape from the devastating impacts of poverty and war through community and laughter, giving children a glimpse of what a childhood should entail.

More than 8,000 children have benefited from this important mobile library in Syria. The demand for this initiative is high, with volunteers facing more requests than they can answer to. In response, project officials have indicated that a long-term goal is to install a mobile library in all 14 of Syria’s governorates.

When safety, food and work are not guaranteed, cultural enrichment is a luxury that is often inaccessible. While Syria’s educational crisis is complex, this mobile library provides a joyful window to learning for children and their families rebuilding their lives after much pain and instability.

– Maya Tailor

Maya is based in London, UK and focuses on Global Health and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Mobile Libraries in India: How they Can Improve Literacy in Urban Slums

Mobile Libraries in India
For children living in India’s urban slums, access to a book can be more than an opportunity to read. Literacy provides the foundation for continued education, employment and economic opportunities, making access to reading materials an important tool in the fight against poverty. In India, mobile libraries are bringing books directly to communities that may otherwise have limited access to reading materials. By using vehicles and portable collections to reach underserved areas, these initiatives make literacy resources more accessible to children outside of traditional educational settings.

India’s Learning Poverty Challenge

India has made significant progress in expanding access to education, but enrollment does not necessarily mean that children are developing foundational reading skills. According to the World Bank, when accounting for children who are out of school, 56% of children at late-primary age are not proficient in reading.

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024 highlights similar challenges in foundational literacy, although its findings cited here specifically concern children attending government schools in rural India. Among Grade Three children in government schools, 23.4% could read a Grade Two level text in 2024, compared with 16.3% in 2022. While this represents significant improvement, the figures demonstrate that many children in rural India continue to struggle with basic reading skills.

These national and rural findings do not directly measure literacy among children living in urban slums, but they illustrate the broader challenges India faces in developing foundational reading skills. For children in underserved urban communities, access to books and other educational resources may also be limited, making community-based approaches to literacy particularly relevant.

Bringing Libraries to Children

Mobile libraries in India have provided one way of overcoming barriers that have resulted a lack of permanent library infrastructure. The Delhi Public Library, an autonomous organization under India’s Ministry of Culture, has operated mobile library services since 1953, with efforts continually increasing. The service currently uses four mobile vans across 73 areas of Delhi and has 4,275 registered mobile-library members.

The vans bring library services directly to communities with limited access to traditional library facilities. The Indian government has identified slums and resettlement colonies as places that can specifically benefit from mobile library services through its Ghar Ghar Dastak, Ghar Ghar Pustak initiative.

Mobile libraries can also provide materials in multiple languages. The Delhi Public Library’s collection includes books in Hindi, English, Urdu, Punjabi and other Indian languages. This allows mobile libraries in India to respond to the linguistic diversity of the communities they reach.

Bookwallah provides another example of how libraries can operate without relying entirely on permanent buildings, which can be difficult to establish in underserved communities. The organization runs permanent libraries in special schools and orphanages in India, while its portable “Magic Crate” libraries deliver books to locations including crisis shelters, hospitals and child-friendly police stations.

According to Bookwallah, its Magic Crate program has reached tens of thousands of children through first-level interventions. While the program is not specific to urban slums, the organization demonstrates how portable collections can provide books and literacy opportunities to children who face barriers to conventional libraries and education centers.

Literacy as a Tool for Poverty Reduction in Urban Slums

There is evidence that community-based and mobile library initiatives can support literacy among children in underserved communities. In Kolkata, the Little Literacy Library was established in two slum communities, Chetla Lock Gate and RG Kar, providing bilingual English and Bengali books to children ages five to 15.

The initiative was designed to address educational inequalities by bringing learning materials directly into communities where children had limited access to books. According to the organization, the project has reached 45 children across the two sites. Although the initiative is small-scale, it demonstrates how community-based literacy programs can bring reading materials directly to children living in underserved communities.

Wider research also supports the potential of mobile libraries as a literacy intervention, although this research is not specific to India or urban slums. A 2025 study involving 487 mobile-library participants, educators, facilitators and administrators found a statistically significant relationship between mobile library access and literacy improvement. Participants’ reading comprehension scores increased by 3.3 points, while mobile library use accounted for 46.4% of the variation in literacy improvement.

Together, these findings suggest that mobile libraries can do more than provide recreational reading. By bringing books, structured literacy activities and educational support directly into underserved communities, they help children develop the reading and comprehension skills needed to progress through education.

Looking Ahead

For children growing up in urban poverty, stronger literacy can create opportunities that extend beyond the classroom. Literacy can help children engage with further education, develop additional skills and eventually access better employment opportunities. In this way, mobile libraries in India offer a relatively low-cost approach to addressing one of the educational barriers associated with poverty.

While mobile libraries cannot solve educational inequality or poverty alone, bringing books directly into underserved urban communities can help ensure that a child’s access to learning is not determined solely by where they live. Expanding these initiatives alongside investment in schools, teachers and wider educational infrastructure could help more children develop the foundational literacy skills needed to build a pathway out of poverty.

– Amber Bannon

Amber is based in High Wycombe and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Education Initiatives in Libya: Supporting Children

Education Initiatives in Libya
Libya’s education system has faced years of disruption following the 2011 revolution and subsequent conflict. Before 2011, Libya had achieved near-universal primary and secondary enrollment with equitable gender enrollment, but conflict, displacement and economic crisis have since restricted access to education. Education Cannot Wait reports that hundreds of schools have been targeted, destroyed or repurposed, while many children and adolescents remain out of the classroom.

The current challenges remain significant. UNICEF reports that about one in 10 households rely on child labor and that almost one in five families have at least one child out of school. UNICEF also continues to support vulnerable children, including children with disabilities, displaced children and children on the move, through education and protection programs. Here is some information about education initiatives in Libya and what they are doing to help.

The Good News: Education Initiatives in Libya

Several education initiatives are working to improve education and student well-being in Libya. In June 2026, the Libyan government and UNICEF launched two complementary initiatives: the National Community Health Program and the National Strategy for School Health and Nutrition (2026–2030). The school strategy addresses priorities including nutrition, mental health, water, sanitation and hygiene, digital referral systems and school clinics. Partners also plan to train school-health personnel and expand mental-health services over the five-year strategy.

This follows earlier efforts to strengthen Libya’s education system. In 2013, the European Union funded a two-year UNICEF initiative, led by Libya’s Ministry of Education, to improve teacher management and training. The €3.1 million project was designed to support teacher qualifications, in-service training, recruitment, management and deployment.

Other Initiatives

UNICEF also supports education in Libya through cash assistance, non-formal education and digital learning opportunities. In partnership with the Ministry of Education, it helps re-enroll out-of-school children, trains social workers and school counselors, supports teacher development and provides remedial or catch-up classes for children who have fallen behind.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW) also supports primary and secondary education in Libya. Its programs rehabilitate damaged schools, improve water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, support parent-teacher associations and provide cash transfers, scholarships, accelerated learning, remedial lessons and vocational training. ECW also trains educators to create more inclusive learning environments, particularly for girls and children with disabilities.

ACTED has also used Quick Impact Projects to address immediate problems in Libya’s education system. In 2018, 15 projects that UNHCR funded distributed school supplies, IT equipment and furniture and supported school renovations. ACTED reports that the projects supported around 3,300 students and contributed to community stabilization by creating safer educational environments that encouraged families to return.

The Road Ahead

Libya’s education system continues to face serious challenges, but domestic and international initiatives are expanding access to learning, improving school environments and supporting vulnerable children. Current programs from UNICEF and Education Cannot Wait sit alongside earlier efforts from organizations such as ACTED and the European Union, showing several approaches to strengthening education in Libya.

– Sebastiano Brussato

Sebastiano is based in London, United Kingdom and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

 

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Education in the Pitcairn Islands

Education in the Pitcairn Islands
The Pitcairn Islands are a British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific, but only Pitcairn Island is permanently inhabited. Its population stood at 42 people in 2022, including residents temporarily abroad. Thus, education is a micro-system: when even one child leaves or returns, the entire school model changes. Here is more information about education in the Pitcairn Islands.

Education in the Pitcairn Islands

The Government of Pitcairn’s education policy states that education is compulsory from ages 5 to 16 and is intended to prepare children for life “both on Pitcairn and abroad.” This dual purpose aligns with the territory’s broader development context. Students benefit from local cultural continuity, but they also need qualifications that allow them to pursue further study and employment outside the island.

Historically, local education was provided through Pulau School in Adamstown. The school followed a curriculum based on the New Zealand model while also incorporating Pitcairn’s history, customs and Pitkern language. This local cultural component is important because education in very small communities often serves not only academic purposes, but also language preservation. 

However, Pulau School is not currently operating as a regular school with enrolled pupils. Apparently, the school closed in 2022 because of a lack of children attending, and the remaining pupil transferred to boarding school in New Zealand. Indeed, a United Nations working paper reports that there are currently no children being educated in the local school, as the remaining students are receiving secondary education in New Zealand.

Overseas Education

This does not mean that Pitcairn has ceased providing education. Rather, education provision has shifted toward overseas pathways. The island’s budget supports overseas education, including secondary and tertiary study. When Pulau School was operating, the budget also covered the cost of an expatriate teacher. These arrangements suggest that the government continues to treat education as a public responsibility, even when provision cannot occur locally.

The reliance on New Zealand for secondary education reflects both practical necessity and structural constraint. A territory with so few children cannot easily provide the full range of subjects, peer groups and specialist instruction available in a larger system. Thus, overseas schooling can expand educational opportunities. At the same time, it may weaken the connection between young people and the island if students remain abroad for further education, work or family life.

The current situation illustrates the close relationship between education and demography in Pitcairn. The absence of pupils at Pulau School is not primarily a failure of education policy, but a consequence of population decline and limited family formation on the island. In this sense, the future of education in Pitcairn depends on tougher questions of population sustainability and return migration.

Return migration, in particular, remains uncertain. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that young people continue to move overseas and inward migration is limited. The decision to return depends not only on family attachment or cultural identity, but also on whether there’s a meaningful role for young adults in the community. The Government of Pitcairn’s immigration page includes a settlement “skills pathway” for applicants with relevant skills that can contribute to the community.

Looking Ahead

Overall, education in the Pitcairn Islands is best understood as a hybrid model: local provision when there are enough children to sustain it, combined with overseas education pathways when local provision is impractical. The key challenge is ensuring that students receive high-quality education while maintaining meaningful links to Pitcairn’s community, language and long-term development needs.

– Jeff Zhou 

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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7 Things to Know About Education in the Paracel Islands

Education in the Paracel Islands
The Paracel Islands are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea, claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan. China currently controls the islands, with most civilian activity centered on Woody Island, known in Chinese as Yongxing Island. Given the islands’ very small resident population, education there is less a conventional national school system than a small, strategically located service for the children of fishers, government officials, military personnel and other island workers. Here are eight facts about education in the Paracel Islands.

8 Facts About Education in the Paracel Islands

  1. Since the other islands are mostly military outposts, reefs or small settlements, formal education is centered on Woody Island – the administrative hub of China’s Sansha City. Woody Island is the largest of about 30 islands in the Paracel chain and serves as Sansha’s administrative center.
  2. The key educational institution is Sansha Yongxing School, which opened in December 2015. It is described as China’s southernmost school. Since its opening, the school’s kindergarten and primary departments have reportedly operated steadily, allowing children of island fishers, military personnel and government workers to attend school locally.
  3. Yongxing School grew from six students at its founding to 32 students across kindergarten and primary grades, served by eight teachers. By late 2023, local reporting claimed the school had reached a new high of 50 students, including 37 in kindergarten and 13 in primary school.
  4. Before the school existed, many parents working on Woody Island had to live apart from their children. One father said the school allowed his child to finally live with him on the island, while another parent noted that, because “there is a school on the island,” his child could grow up there. The practical effect is significant: access to education has made it more feasible for civilian families to live on the islands over the long term.
  5. Teaching on Woody Island comes with unusual hardship, such as isolation, typhoons and limited services. Seventy-seven teachers worked at Yongxing School between 2015 and 2023. After 2018, the school was co-managed with Qiongtai Normal University, with eight formal teaching positions and three-year contracts. 
  6. A tiny island school cannot staff every specialty, so digital teaching is critical. Yongxing School uses synchronized online classes with schools in Haikou, including Chinese classics lessons twice a week. The school found that information technology helps compensate for its limited access to specialist teaching resources. 
  7. Yongxing School is not only for children. China’s Ministry of Education revealed that the school library and electronic reading room were opened to island residents. Additionally, the school offered more than 60 adult vocational courses, providing training to 763 people in areas such as deep-sea fishing and aquaculture.

Looking Ahead

Education in the Paracel Islands remains politically sensitive and shaped by geography. There is no large school system, university sector or published learning-outcome dataset. Still, the available evidence shows that Yongxing School has become a pivotal civilian institution. It keeps families together, offers early and primary education and supports adult training. 

– Jeff Zhou 

Photo: Flickr

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8 Things to Know About Education in New Caledonia

Education in New Caledonia
New Caledonia, a French overseas collectivity in the South Pacific, has a large education system by Pacific island standards. However, it is one shaped by geography, inequality, demographic decline and the unrest of 2024. The 2025 census reported 264,596 residents, down 6,811 people from 2019 – the first population decline between censuses since 1946. Here are eight facts about education in New Caledonia.

8 Facts About Education in New Caledonia

  1. For the 2026 school year, the Government of New Caledonia expected 59,782 students: 23,053 in public primary schools, 21,588 in public secondary schools, 6,880 in private primary schools and 8,261 in private secondary schools. The government claimed these totals continue a long-term decline, including 4,666 fewer primary pupils since 2012.
  2. The Vice-Rectorate’s 2025 education figures included 249 schools, 55 collèges, 21 lycées (high schools) and one university. In 2025, there were 58,188 pupils in school education and 5,317 students in higher education, showing that New Caledonia maintains a full education pathway despite its island geography.
  3. In 2025, the Vice-Rectorate counted 30,741 primary pupils, including 23,721 in public schools and 7,020 in private schools. The South Province accounted for 21,395 primary pupils, compared with 6,578 in the North Province and 2,768 in the Loyalty Islands. This distribution reflects broader demographic concentration: the South Province contains roughly three-quarters of the population.
  4. At the collège level, there were 16,253 students in 2025, including students in adapted pathways such as ULIS (Unité Localisée pour l’Inclusion Scolaire) and SEGPA (Section d’Enseignement Général et Adapté). At the lycée level, there were 11,194 students, split almost evenly between 5,849 in general/technological education and 5,345 in vocational education. This balance demonstrates how important job-oriented schooling is to New Caledonia’s education-to-work pipeline.
  5. About 7,923 diplomas were delivered in 2023. The Diplôme national du brevet pass rate was 87.5%, while the overall baccalauréat pass rate was 86.3%. However, outcomes varied sharply, as the general baccalauréat pass rate was 97.4%, compared with 87.8% for technological and 75.5% for vocational pathways. The BTS pass rate was 81%.
  6. The 2025 back-to-school period followed a “particularly disrupted” 2024. Around 1,000 secondary students left the territory in 2024, and many students changed schools after the May 2024 events. Damaged schools also required reconstruction, with the state covering 100% of rehabilitation for affected educational institutions. 
  7. For 2026, the government listed school dropout prevention as a major priority. In secondary education, its approach combines early prevention from sixth grade with the DAENC support system for 16- to 18-year-olds who left school without a minimum diploma. Vice-Rector Didier Vin-Datiche said the goal is to “trace these students, contact them again and make sure they return” to receive support and obtain diplomas.
  8. New Caledonia is focusing on French, mathematics, anti-bullying and school climate. Christelle Varney, director of education, called mathematics improvement “a major project,” noting a new DU Maths Expert with the University of New Caledonia to strengthen teacher performance. The government also committed 25 million Pacific francs to keep cafeteria prices stable, while continuing transportation support for boarding students in the North Province.

Looking Ahead

New Caledonia’s education system has strong infrastructure, broad access and respectable exam results. Its next challenge is outcomes: reducing dropout, improving foundational learning and ensuring that vocational and higher education pathways lead to real opportunity.

– Jeff Zhou 

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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The Maternal and Child Health Crisis in Nigeria

Child Health Crisis in Nigeria
The West African country of Nigeria is classified as a ‘high burden’ country due to it disproportionately high rate of maternal and child mortality. According to UNICEF, Nigeria accounts for 10% of global maternal deaths, despite representing only 2.4% of the global population. UNICEF also reports that the mortality rate for children under 5 in Nigeria stands at 12.8%.

Despite these challenges, U.S. Maternal and Child Health (MCH) funding—defined as targeted government assistance to promote maternal and child health abroad—has decreased. Tracking data from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) shows that U.S. MCH funding to Nigeria fell from $50 million in 2017 to $33.25 million in 2023, representing a 35% decline. A 2026 study in Health Policy and Planning estimates that the abrupt withdrawal of USAID health funding could increase maternal mortality by 45% on average among populations in need across six vulnerable West and Central African countries, with Nigeria experiencing the largest absolute increase — more than 300 additional maternal deaths under the study’s model. Here is more information about the maternal and child health crisis in Nigeria and what is being done to address it.

How US MCH Funding Saves Nigerian Lives

Reduced funding directly affects health care delivery in Nigeria’s rural communities. The African Health Report documented the case of Aisha Yusuf, a 28-year-old woman in labor who nearly lost her baby while traveling 18 miles to a hospital because a local clinic lacked delivery equipment. An anonymous health care worker at the receiving hospital reported that a single staff member often cares for dozens of patients per shift, frequently without electricity. Yusuf’s experience reflects broader systemic issues in Nigeria’s local health care facilities, namely lack of equipment, resources and staff. 

These operational insufficiencies highlight the critical role of international assistance in reinforcing local health care systems. Yusuf’s experience illustrates the kinds of health-system gaps that maternal and child health investments can help address. Consistent U.S. MCH funding provides essential resources to equip local clinics, ensuring they can deliver safe and reliable care to expectant mothers.

Securing US Interests Through Health Investment

In addition to direct health outcomes, MCH funding supports U.S. security and economic interests. Regarding security, Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa, with more than 240 million residents—a figure projected to reach 370 million by 2050. World Bank President Ajay Banga stated that a failure to invest in this demographic, particularly through health care initiatives like MCH, could weaken Nigeria’s state capacity. This capacity represents the government’s ability to distribute resources, implement policies and serve citizens. Weakened state capacity increases the risk of instability, conflict and migration crises, which can directly affect global security.

From an economic perspective, healthier populations are better positioned to participate in education, employment and economic activity. Over time, stronger human capital and economic growth can expand consumer demand and create opportunities for trade and investment with the United States. Economic models indicate that a larger middle class increases domestic purchasing power, creating a stronger market for U.S. goods and services. Consequently, current MCH investments help build a stable international consumer base that supports U.S. economic competitiveness and trade development. 

Actionable Solutions to Maternal and Under-Five Mortality

A study in Health Policy and Planning suggests that a 1% increase in the Nigerian government’s health care expenditure can address the maternal and child health crisis in Nigeria and lead to a 37% reduction in the country’s maternal mortality. U.S. MCH funding to Nigeria can help achieve this 1% increase, especially if U.S. foreign policy hones the following critical strategies.

Targeted Strategies for Maternal Health

  • Infrastructure and Medical Equipment: Funding should support the planned implementation of essential health care infrastructure and trained personnel. According to obstetric guidelines, countries should have at least five emergency obstetric care facilities per 500,000. These facilities must remain open 24/7 and have staff trained to administer uterotonic drugs for hemorrhages and basic neonatal resuscitation. The Tropical Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology found that all 36 Nigerian states have fewer than four facilities per 500,000, with major metropolitan cities like Ibadan only reporting 1.2 facilities per 500,000.
  • Prenatal Vitamin Distribution: Providing continuous access to multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) is a highly cost-effective intervention. At an estimated cost of $4 per pregnancy, these vitamins can save more than 600,000 maternal lives.
  • Broad Economic Sector Funding: Long-term maternal health correlates with overall economic development. A 32-year study spanning 152 countries found that higher gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is directly linked to lower maternal mortality. Consequently, funding should also target higher education, technological innovation, transportation networks like rail links, and stable power infrastructure.

Targeted Strategies for Child Health

  • Legislative Support for Nutritional Initiatives: Passing and supporting the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Act of 2026 (H.R. 9583) would establish a $150 million annual fund from fiscal years 2026 to 2030. This fund would also scale low-cost interventions, including MMS, in high-priority nations like Nigeria. Large-scale data from 14 low-income nations indicates that MMS significantly reduces infant mortality, particularly among malnourished mothers.
  • Treating Preventable Diseases: Pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria remain the three leading preventable causes of under-5 mortality in Nigeria U.S. assistance can expand the distribution of essential medicines, including prescription antibiotics like amoxicillin, intravenous fluids and artesunate.
  • Preventive Malaria Care: Expanding access to intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in pregnancy (IPTp), including sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, through routine antenatal care can help reduce malaria-related risks for pregnant women and their infants.

Looking Ahead

To change Nigeria’s trajectory as a ‘high burden’ country, consistent U.S. MCH assistance must be administered to bridge local health-system gaps and equip rural facilities. This requires prioritizing cost-effective interventions like MMS, expanding the distribution of basic treatments like intravenous fluids, and building routine antenatal clinics. Such investments in Nigerian MCH will yield substantial benefits beyond health clinics, namely regional stability, protected global security and improved conditions for human capital development and economic growth. Securing the health of mothers and their infants ultimately transforms Nigeria’s humanitarian vulnerability into the foundation of Nigeria’s future stability and prosperous international trade partnerships. 

– Caid Campbell

Photo: Unsplash

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8 Things to Know About Education in Wallis and Futuna

Education in Wallis and Futuna
Wallis and Futuna, a French overseas collectivity in the South Pacific, has a small but unique education system shaped by geography, language and its relationship with France. The 2023 census counted 11,151 residents, including 8,088 in Wallis and 3,063 in Futuna, while the island of Alofi remains uninhabited.

8 Facts About Education in Wallis and Futuna

  1. Despite its size, Wallis and Futuna offers schooling from early childhood through upper secondary education. As of the 2025-2026 period, the first phase includes 10 schools serving about 1,433 pupils, while the second degree includes six collèges and one polyvalent lycée serving about 1,337 students.
  2. As part of the French education system, Wallis and Futuna follows the broad structure of French schooling: nursery school, elementary school, collège and lycée. French national rules make education compulsory from ages 3 to 16, and the education ministry states that “school is compulsory for all children from age 3 until age 16.” This gives Wallis and Futuna a formal education framework similar to that of mainland France, though local implementation differs. 
  3. Wallis and Futuna has long had a special arrangement in which primary education was delegated to the Catholic mission. A 2025 French parliamentary report describes this as a “situation unique en France,” or a unique situation in France. The same report explains that a 2025 bill aimed to transfer primary teachers into the French state civil service, replacing the concession system that had existed since 1969.
  4. A social movement in 2023 led to an agreement to transform the status of primary teachers, including improved pay and alignment with the national teacher corps. The ministry said the reform’s goal was “l’amélioration de la qualité de l’éducation et des parcours des élèves,” meaning improved education quality and student pathways.
  5. The strongest warning sign is student performance. 40% of students in Wallis and Futuna possessed insufficient or fragile mastery, compared with 11% nationally. In mathematics, the gap was larger: 65% were in the insufficient or fragile category, compared with 28% nationally. These figures show that access alone is not enough; foundational learning remains the key challenge.
  6. French is the primary language of instruction, but many young children first speak Wallisian or Futunian. Teachers assigned to the territory must adapt to “different school populations,” notably children’s language difficulties and local customary practices. New recruitment approaches increasingly recognize that primary teachers should understand local vernacular languages.
  7. The territory is using digital resources to support teachers and reduce isolation. The Catholic Education Directorate developed EDUC@PASIFIKA, a digital teaching-resource platform for primary teachers, co-financed by the European Union, the Pacific Fund, the Pacific Community and the territory.
  8. Education planning is also shaped by shrinking enrollment. Total enrollment dropped from 3,390 students in 2016 to 2,935 in 2020 and 2,658 in 2024. Fewer students can ease class sizes, but they also raise questions about staffing, school organization and maintaining programs across two inhabited islands.

Looking Ahead

Education in Wallis and Futuna benefits from French public funding and a full pathway through secondary school. However, the territory’s next obstacle is outcomes: raising French and math proficiency, supporting bilingual learners, stabilizing teacher careers and ensuring that students in both Wallis and Futuna can move from school into higher education or employment.

– Jeff Zhou 

Photo: Flickr

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3 Recent Improvements to Higher Education in Peru

Higher Education in PeruPeru is currently ranked 77th in education worldwide and, in recent years, has seen major improvements in its higher education system. Here are a few worth noting:

The 2014 University Law

In 2014, Peru enacted the University Law, bringing much improvement to Peru’s tertiary education system, requiring universities to go through evaluations to prove basic quality standards, set stricter academic requirements for educators and provide special monthly bonuses for researchers at public universities who produce indexed scientific papers.

Before this, universities experienced lots of expansion with limited government oversight, which resulted in disparities in the quality of education among schools. During this time, many institutions operated without meeting any specific academic standards, resulting in graduates who often lack adequate experience to be successful in the labor market. To mitigate this, the law established SUNEDU, a specialized agency responsible for institutional licensing, taking away operations for universities that failed to meet a set of minimum quality requirements.

This system required universities to demonstrate that they met minimum quality conditions regarding faculty, infrastructure, student services, etc. Universities that failed to meet these standards had their operating licenses revoked and, in some cases, had to close. These efforts highlighted the goal to prioritize the quality of education in Peru, strengthening public confidence in higher education, and encouraged institutions to invest more in student success.

The 2016 Law on Institutes and Schools of Tertiary Education

This law was built on the University Law, laying the foundation for a more transparent and rigorous quality checking system. It was designed to “promote more effective student-centered, competence-based approaches to teaching and learning.”

Technical schools play a crucial role in getting students ready for a career in industries that might require practical skills, yet they have historically received less attention than universities. This 2016 law introduced several changes, including licensing requirements, quality assurance systems and stronger oversight for schools offering technical and professional education. These changes pushed for clearer educational standards while promoting continuous improvement among institutions. Additionally, the law aimed to strengthen the connection between technical education and labor market demands by encouraging institutions to engineer programs that reflect employer needs and evolving workforce trends. This allowed graduates from technical institutes to be better prepared for their future employment, and gave employers access to workers with more relevant skills, depending on the work. This reform also recognized technical schools as a crucial aspect of Peru’s tertiary education, as opposed to a secondary alternative to university.

The 2020 National Policy

When Peru enacted this policy, the policy “laid out, for the first time, a comprehensive strategy for the entire vocational and tertiary education sector through to 2030.”

This policy gives Peru more direction when creating a tertiary system that is increasingly aligned with national priorities. Instead of concentrating only on institutional regulation, this policy provides a more complete vision for the entire higher education sector, including universities and technical institutes. Its primary goals include improving educational quality, expanding equitable access, strengthening government institutions and ensuring that graduates develop the knowledge necessary to be successful in Peru, as well as increasing collaboration among institutions. The policy encourages better coordination between educational institutions, employers, the government and regional authorities so that academic programs can remain responsive to changing labor market demands. Furthermore, it seeks to lessen educational inequalities by increasing opportunities for disadvantaged groups and improving student services that result in successful graduation.

How Has This Benefited Peruvian Citizens?

About 54% of adults aged 25-34 have completed tertiary education as of 2024. This gives Peru the highest tertiary attainment rate compared to all OECD countries in the region. The country’s tertiary participation rate in the early 2000s was close to that of other OECD countries; however, Peru’s net enrollment rate has since increased at a faster pace than its peers. This achievement highlights substantial progress in accessibility in university programs, both academically focused institutions and technical-focused institutions.

Between 2000 and 2023, enrollment in private universities has increased by more than 600% (going from about 169,000 to 1.2 million students). Enrollment in public universities has seen minor increases, going from about 255,000 students to 355,000 (about a 40% increase).

To add to this, overall enrollment has increased, going from 33.92% of eligible children in 2006 and skyrocketing to 73.22% of eligible children in 2016. This highlights the ability of Peruvian schools to make changes in their educational structures that increase participation in schooling as a whole.

In terms of unemployment rates, Peru was also on a steady decline until the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, sitting at 3.38% in 2019. This is likely a result of improved tertiary education, which draws the connection between quality education and post-grad success. Since the pandemic, unemployment rates have decreased again from 7.18% to 5.12% as of 2025, and will likely return to the low numbers we were seeing in the late 2010s.

Concluding Thoughts

In all, these reforms have significantly improved the higher education system in Peru by creating a system that prioritizes accountability and student-centered tertiary education. Peru has done a great job of making efficient and effective adaptations to the education system that focus on the quality of the student experience, not the institutions themselves. 

– Emily Fleetwood

Emily Fleetwood is based in Seattle, Washington, USA and focuses on Good News and Celebs for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons