Send my Friend to School

I was contacted by John McLaverty of Oxfam GB this week to ask me to publicise their latest Send my Friend to school resource / campaign. 

This is something I've shared (and taken part in) for quite a few years now. Each year, the focus is slightly different and this year there is a connection with the pandemic and the influence it has had on education, particularly for the most vulnerable.

Here's the details of this year's campaign.

There’s a global education emergency. In March 2020 school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced 91% of the world’s children out of school. It arrived on top of the climate crisis, which was already undermining fragile education systems around the world and placing the most vulnerable and poorest children at risk.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, and a vital tool to build a better future and break the cycle of poverty. But the onset and spread of COVID-19 has led to children missing school on a global scale never experienced before and has caused the greatest threat ever to the promise of a quality education for all.
Globally, the pandemic arrived on top of an existing learning crisis. The poorest and most marginalised children – girls, refugees, children with disabilities - were already less likely to be in school and learning, but COVID-19 threatens to place any progress the world was beginning to make in reverse.
This autumn join Send My Friend in calling on the UK government to support a safe return to school around the world and keep all children learning!

How can you help?

One useful resource would be an interactive map produced by UNESCO.

Scroll to the bottom of the page on the link above - there are other useful resources on the way - and then use the time slider to see the impact through this year, and which areas are mostly open are closed at the moment.