Floods Deprive 10 Million African Children of Education

17th October 2024

2 minutes read

Floods Deprive 10 Million African Children of Education

Massive floods that have swept through West and Central Africa have deprived 10 million African children of education, according to the organization “Save the Children.”

The humanitarian NGO has called on donors to assist the populations affected by the floods, according to “France Presse.”

In a statement, the organization urged for urgent alternatives for children deprived of schooling and emphasized the need to “strengthen the protection of educational institutions from future extreme climate events.”

The organization pointed out that “the unprecedented rainfall in Nigeria, Mali, Niger, and the Democratic Republic of Congo has worsened the education crisis, with schools damaged or destroyed, schools occupied by displaced families, and others becoming inaccessible.” It added that the floods have displaced around one million people.

Save the Children confirmed that the 10 million children currently deprived of education due to these floods are in addition to the more than 36 million children already out of school due to wars or poverty in their countries, including over 21 million children in Nigeria alone, based on UNESCO figures.

Since the beginning of the rainy season, heavy rains have lashed large parts of West and Central Africa, causing floods and mudslides that have killed hundreds and displaced hundreds of thousands in Chad, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Guinea, and Cameroon.

The rains have affected millions of people, causing significant damage to infrastructure, destroying crops and livestock, increasing the risk of infectious diseases, and worsening food insecurity.

For over a month, major floods have hit central Nigeria, displacing many people and raising fears of a humanitarian disaster.

Heavy rains caused the overflow of the country’s two largest rivers, flooding large areas around the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers in the central part of the country.

Omar Mahmoud, head of disaster management for the Red Cross in Kogi, said there are “over 60,000 displaced people.”

He added, “The situation is very dire today; the Niger River has overflowed,” noting that at least 60,000 hectares of land have been destroyed.

Floods often occur in Nigeria during the rainy season from May to November each year, but there are fears that the damage in Kogi could surpass that of 2022, when Nigeria experienced its worst floods in a decade, resulting in more than 500 deaths and 1.4 million displaced people.