Education in conflict-hit countries to get £8.5bn in aid

War-torn countries are line for a huge injection of international funding for education in a development scheme to be unveiled later today. Britain has singled out several lawless countries or countries in conflict for a £8.5bn aid deal. The move marks a sea change in the government’s aid strategy from backing general development programmes to those more specifically targeted.

As part of the shift in funding policy, at least half of the aid available will be put by for what are classed as "vulnerable countries". Top priority target countries are Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nepal, Nigeria and Yemen. Others the Government has mentioned for the aid package are Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Families in these countries will get basic financial support proved they send their children to school and "safe zones" will be set up around schools. Often, in war zones – families find themselves under pressure to send their children out to work to earn a living to boost their income rather than to school. To encourage more families to put their children into education instead, they will be given the equivalent of the wage the child would earn – so long as they make sure the child goes to school. Cash aid for food parcels could also be handed out to lift the pressure on sending children to work.

The updated aid programme will be put out on the Internet today, according to The Independent newspaper, and is directed at helping the United Nations reach its goal of giving all young children a place at primary school by 2015."The UK's aid programme has achieved real results in education,” said Mike Foster, International Development minister for Education."But we must go further. That is why we are looking at what we need to do to help those children who have proved hardest to reach." On the flip side, switching the funding policy will mean aid will be channelled away from countries that have already made strides in getting children into school. These include Tanzania – where school enrolment has doubled with 98 per cent of all children going to school – and Malawi where enrolment rates have increased by about 60 per cent since universal free primary education was made available in 1994.

Also today, Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has spoken to governments of some of the world’s poorest countries, offering to help them develop free healthcare services. Pregnant women and children will be the starting point for the development, reported the British Medical Journal. In several countries, including Uganda, Ghana, and Zambia, it has been shown that abolishing fees for healthcare services is not very costly but it can have a big effect on the health of the local population, allowing doctors to reach many more thousands of patients who would not otherwise be able to afford to pay for help.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children