Learn 6 - Beyond School books - UN Podcasts series in Education in emergencies

Segment #24:Innovative financing for education
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The global economic downturn, escalating conflicts and widespread disasters threaten to reverse advances made in the last decade in increasing enrolment and reducing the gender gap in schools around the world.

Segment #23:Technology helping schoolchildren in disaster areas
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The earthquake that shook Chile on 27 February reportedly killed hundreds of people and caused widespread damage to homes, hospitals, schools, roads and other infrastructure.

The start of the school year has been suspended for a week while rescue and recovery efforts are underway.

Meanwhile, intensive aid operations continue in Haiti, which was struck by a catastrophic earthquake on 12 January. The quake damaged or destroyed thousands of schools, affecting hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren throughout the country.

While the international community is working relentlessly to alleviate the suffering in both countries, some quake survivors in Haiti and Chile have been harnessing the power of technology to seek assistance for themselves and their communities.

UNICEF podcast moderator Amy Costello spoke with Patrick Meier, the Director of Crisis Mapping and Strategic Partnerships at Ushahidi and a Co-Director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative's Program on Crisis Mapping and Early Warning, and with Sree Sreenivasan, a journalism educator at Columbia University and a tech reporter for DNAinfo.com, about the use of technology for crisis mapping in disaster areas.

Segment #22: Learning to be leaders in Uganda
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This year, UNICEF’s flagship Humanitarian Action Report – launched in February – estimates that at least 1.2 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Uganda due to droughts, flooding, internal displacement and the return of at least 300,000 Ugandans following the cessation of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) activities. Other UNICEF figures reveal that nearly half of Uganda’s estimated 2.5 million orphans have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Experts estimate that the LRA has abducted more than 25,000 children since 1986. UNICEF Radio moderator Amy Costello recently spoke with two Ugandan students – Sanyu, 14, who was orphaned by AIDS, and Nokrach, 16, a former child soldier – about their experiences and the ways in which education has transformed their lives.

Segment #21: Sudanese child soldiers
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As a teenager, Abraham Kur Achiek served in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the rebel group that fought Sudan’s Government for more than 20 years. Today, he’s in his thirties and working as a Child Protection Officer for UNICEF in his native Southern Sudan. UNICEF and UN Radio moderator Amy Costello recently spoke with Mr. Kur Achiek about the time during his childhood when soldiers from the SPLA were his only teachers.

Segment #20: Protecting Rights through Child-Friendly Schools
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This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, yet challenges remain in ensuring that its promise becomes a reality for all of the world’s children.

UNICEF Radio moderator Amy Costello spoke with two experts – Prof. Roger Hart and Rebecca Chandler – about the role of 'Child-Friendly' schools, spaces and communities in protecting the rights of children in crisis situations.

Prof. Hart teaches at the Graduate Centre of the City University of New York and is Director of the Children’s Environments Research Group. Ms. Chandler is the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Coordinator for Child and Youth Protection Programmes in Emergencies

“The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,” he said, “and its emphasis on children’s capacity to be independent actors and thinkers, has really been important for helping them to protect themselves and ... develop more completely, and to be prepared for situations like conflict and war.”

Segment #19: The right to choose education
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On his impending departure from UNICEF, Global Chief of Education, Dr. Cream Wright spoke with moderator Amy Costello about the empowering force of education and the importance of a child's right to choose. According to Dr. Wright, since joining UNICEF in 2002, he has witnessed the development of a more general acceptance of education as a human right, and a growing awareness of the role education can play in tackling global issues.

“Increasingly, people are seeing the value of education not just on its own, for itself – but as contributing to solving some of the challenges of our time,” Dr. Wright said.

“Education is not just a right in itself, it’s a right that facilitates other rights so it’s really the most empowering of the rights in many ways.”

Segment #18: Fighting for access to education
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Too often around the world, in countries affected by conflict, violence and poverty, education is denied at the most basic level.

UN and UNICEF Radio Moderator Amy Costello recently spoke with International Children’s Peace Prize winners Mayra Avellar Neves and Thandiwe Chama, as well as Prof. Shantha Sinha, Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, on their pioneering work to bring peace and educational opportunities to children worldwide.

The Children’s Peace Prize is an initiative of the KidsRights Foundation with the support of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.

Beyond School Books’ is a podcast series in education in emergencies.

'Beyond School Books' audio series - Segment #17
Turning the tide of global warming. Amy Costello speaks to Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In 2007, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, along with former US Vice President Al Gore.
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'Beyond School Books' audio series - Segment #16
Am I safe? The role of children and education in disaster risk reduction. Some 175 million children are likely to be affected by climate-related disasters each year, according to Save the Children. Amy Costello speaks to UNICEF’s Antony Spalton, UNICEF Disaster Risk Reduction Specialist, and Rhee, a 16-year-old boy from the Philippines about the role of children in protecting their communities from natural disasters.
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'Beyond School Books' audio series - Segment #15
Giving Girls a Chance - Educating to End Child Labour. An estimated 100 million girls around the world are involved in child labour, according to the ILO. Chief Technical Adviser, the International Labour Organisation’s International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), Patrick Quinn; Professor Managing Director of the Sindh Education Foundation, Anita Ghulam Ali; and child labour activist Kailash Sityarthi discuss the importance of educating girls in the struggle to eliminate child labour.
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'Beyond School Books' audio series - Segment #14
Education in the line of fire in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Last year in Afghanistan there were nearly 300 doc**ented attacks on schools killing 92 people and injuring 169. In Pakistan, 172 government and private schools, particularly girls' schools, have been destroyed in the Swat Valley district since 2007. Amy Costello hosts a discussion on the targeting of schools in the region with Wenny Kusuma, Country Programme Director, UNIFEM Afghanistan; Yasmeen Hassan, human rights lawyer and deputy director of programmes Equality Now; and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, journalist and award-wining doc**entary maker.
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'Beyond School Books' audio series - Segment #13
UN General Assembly Thematic Debate on Education in Emergencies. How critical is education for communities in times of natural disasters and war? What kind of challenges will the global economic crisis pose for agencies trying to deliver education services to children in emergency countries? Amy Costello interviews Nicholas Burnett, Assistant Director General for Education, UNESCO; Lothar Krappmann, member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; Vernor Muñoz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education; and Leslie Wilson, Afghanistan Country Director, Save the Children.
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'Beyond School Books' audio series - Segment #12
Crisis in Gaza. Moderator Amy Costello hosts a discussion on the impact of the crisis on schools, students and education personnel with Sir John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Ging, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, and Dr. Eyad Rajab El Sarraj, founder and Medical Director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme.
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'Beyond School Books' audio series - Segment #11
Recovery through Education. Former child soldiers Ishamel Beah, Grace Akallo and Kon Kelei speak to moderator Amy Costello. All three have lived through and participated in conflict in their native countries of Sierra Leone, Uganda and Sudan. They share not only common experiences as former child soldiers, but also agree that it was education that enabled them to become the writers and advocates they are today.
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'Beyond School Books' audio series - Segment #10
Financing education in emergencies. Moderator Amy Costello hosts a discussion with Desmond Bermingham Head of the ‘Education for All’ Fast Track Initiative Secretariat, Dr. Codou Diaw, Executive Director of the Forum for African Women Educationalists and Peter Kramer co-founder of the ‘Schools for Africa’ campaign.
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'Beyond School Books' audio series - Segment #9
Education under pressure in Iraq. Amy Costello speaks toGeorge Packer, a staff writer for The New Yorker, Zuhal Sultan,a 17 year-old concert pianist in Baghdad and Mette Norstrand UNICEF's Chief of Education in Iraq about struggles of Iraqi youths to study amidst war.
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Beyond School Books’ audio series - Segment #8
Natural disasters and school construction featuring guests:Kate Stohr, co-founder of Architecture for Humanity and co-editor of the book, ‘Design Like you Give a Damn’; Dr. Brian Tucker,founder and President of GeoHazards International; and Dr. Gianfranco Rotigliano, UNICEF's Representative in Indonesia.
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‘Beyond School Books’ audio series - Segment #7
Rwanda’s Children, 14 Years after the Genocide. Moderator Amy Costello hosts two guests from Rwanda, Immaculee Ilibagiza author of the New York Times best-selling autobiography Left to Tell and Dr. Kathy Kantengwa, Chair, Rwanda Executive Committee, Forum for African Women Educationalists.
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‘Beyond School Books’ audio series - Segment #6
Gender Equality. Moderator Amy Costello speaks with guests H.E. Vabah Gayflor, Minister of Gender of Liberia; Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda, General Secretary of the World YWCA; and H.E. Kirsti Lintonen, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations about the importance of gender equality in the education systems in countries affected by emergencies.
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‘Beyond School Books’ audio series - Segment #5
‘A World Fit for Children’. Moderator Amy Costello talks with guests H.E. Dr. Minkailu Bah, Minister of Education, Sierra Leone;Tove Romsaas Wang, Chair of the Rewrite the Future Campaign and Chief Operating Officer, Save the Children Norway; Alan Court, Director of UNICEF’s Programme Division; and Duhabo Goleecha, 13, from the Kak**a refugee camp in Kenya about educating children in some of the world’s most challenging contexts.
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‘Beyond School Books’ audio series - Segment #4
A Classroom Far from Home. Moderator Amy Costello talks with guests President Jose Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste and Dr. Rima Salah, former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF about educating refugee and displaced children.
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‘Beyond School Books’ audio series - Segment #3
Education Under Attack. Moderator Amy Costello talks with guestsSibeso Luswata, UNICEF Southern Sudan Chief of Education; Paul Martin, UNICEF Representative in Colombia; and Geeta Verma,UNICEF Deputy Representative in Iraq about the role of education in countries affected by conflict or emerging from it.
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‘Beyond School Books’ audio series - Segment #2
The War’s Over, Now Where’s Your Homework? Moderator Amy Costello talks with guests Ishmael Beah, youth activist and author of the best-seller, ‘A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier’; Nicholas Kristof, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and columnist for The New York Times; and Dyan Mazurana, Director of Gender, Youth and Community, Feinstein International Famine Center, Tufts University about child soldiers and education, in the context of humanitarian aid delivery to conflict and post-crisis countries.
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‘Beyond School Books’ audio series - Segment #1
When Crises Strike Children. Moderator Amy Costello talks with guests Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, and Gene Sperling, a Senior Fellow for Economic Studies and Director of the Center for Universal Education at the Council on Foreign Relations, about education as a human right and long-term development tool.
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