Adel Abdel Ghafar and Fraus Masri
A catastrophic by-product of ongoing conflicts in the Middle East is a lost generation of unschooled children. These children find themselves, through no fault of their own, not only displaced but lacking the opportunity for proper schooling and thus, denied a chance to learn and develop the necessary skills to become fully functional members of society. This lost generation is the tragedy of our time.
According to a 2015 report by UNICEF, the United Nations children's agency, conflict in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has driven 13 million children out of schools.
Unschooled children are not only a moral challenge, but also one that has negative short-term and long-term consequences both for the refugees, but also for their societies.
Economically disadvantaged
Education provides children with the necessary skills to develop into productive members of society. Unfortunately, refugee children fleeing Syria, Iraq, Palestine, and Yemen struggle to find educational opportunities in the countries where they settle.
In the most extreme cases, refugee youth have not attended school in years. For these children, the possibility of finding gainful employment as an adult becomes increasingly challenging.
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