Funding Cuts Threaten Refugee’s Children Education in Rwanda

2023-11-02 15:53:05来源：网络

Funding Cuts Threaten Refugee’s Children Education in Rwanda

经费削减威胁卢旺达难民儿童的教育

　　By Dan Novak

　　01 November 2023

　　Cuts to United Nations aid for refugees living in Rwanda are threatening education for children from more than 100,000 families. The families fled conflict in several East African countries. They are spread among five refugee camps in Rwanda.

　　Burundian refugee Epimaque Nzohoraho spoke about the situation to the Associated Press. He said the leader of his son's school reported that his child should not return to class because the UN refugee agency had stopped paying for the education.

　　Nzohoraho said he does not know how much it costs to attend the school. But, he said, he had hoped education would save his son's future.

　　Last weekend, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, announced budget cuts for food, education, shelter and health care. The agency acted as hopes disappear to meet the $90.5 million in aid donations.

　　UNHCR spokesperson Lilly Carlisle said that only $33 million had arrived by October. "The agency cannot manage to meet the needs of the refugees," she said.

　　Rwanda is home to a little more than 134,500 refugees. About 62 percent of them came from neighboring Congo. About 37 percent came from Burundi. Less than one percent are from other countries, says the country's emergency management ministry.

　　Among those affected are 553 refugee schoolchildren who were expecting to go to boarding schools this year. The budget shortfall will not permit their attendance. The UNCHR is already supporting 750 students in boarding schools, Carlisle said. The school fees for boarding schools in Rwanda is $80 each school term.

　　Budget problems have also affected food assistance, which has dropped from $5 to $3 per refugee monthly since last year.

　　Chantal Mukabirori is a Burundian refugee living in eastern Rwanda's Mahama camp. She says with reduced food aid, her four children are going hungry and refusing to go to school.

　　"Do you expect me to send children to school when I know there is no food?" she asked.

　　Carlisle is urging refugees "to look for employment to support their families," but some say this is hard to do as a refugee.

　　Solange Uwamahoro fled violence in Burundi in 2015 after an attempted government overthrow. She says going back to the same country where her husband was killed may be her only choice.

　　"I have no other option now. I could die of hunger ... it's very hard to get a job as a refugee," Uwamahoro told the AP.

　　Phillipe Babinshuti is secretary of Rwanda's emergency management ministry. He says the refugees in Rwanda should not be forgotten even with the increasing number of global conflicts.

　　The aid reduction effect on education is likely to lower school enrollment. Data from UNHCR in 2022 showed that 1.1 million of 2.2 million refugee children in the East, Horn of Africa and Great Lakes area were out of school.

　　I'm Dan Novak.

　　Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by the Associated Press.

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　　丹·诺瓦克

　　2023年11月1日

　　联合国对居住在卢旺达的难民援助的削减正威胁着10多万个家庭的儿童的教育。这些家庭逃离了几个东非国家的冲突。他们分布在卢旺达的五个难民营中。

　　布隆迪难民Epimaque Nzohoraho向美联社。他说，他儿子学校的领导报告说，他的孩子不应该回到课堂，因为联合国难民署已经停止支付教育费用。

　　恩佐拉霍说，他不知道上这所学校要花多少钱。但是，他说，他希望教育能挽救他儿子的未来。

　　上周末，联合国难民事务高级专员公署宣布削减食品、教育、住房和医疗保健的预算。该机构在满足9050万美元援助捐款的希望消失时采取了行动。

　　联合国难民署发言人Lilly Carlisle说，截至10月份，只有3300万美元到位。“该机构不能经营以满足难民的需求，”她说。

　　卢旺达是134，500多名难民的家园。其中大约62%来自邻国刚果。大约37%来自布隆迪。该国应急管理部称，不到1%的人来自其他国家。

　　受影响的人中有553名难民学童木板今年的学校。预算短缺不允许他们出席。卡莱尔说，联合国难民署已经资助了750名寄宿学校的学生。卢旺达寄宿学校的学费是每学期80美元。