Education is much more than learning. It brings hope, protection and a sense of normalcy for children, especially during a crisis.
In my 18 years with UNICEF, I have seen firsthand the power of education to uplift and transform lives.
As a member of UNICEF’s Emergency Response Team, we are often the first ones on the ground after a crisis hits, delivering live-saving supplies and services to children and families whose lives have been upended. Working as an Education Specialist, my role is to make sure children continue learning, despite often challenging circumstances. It’s a demanding job, but a rewarding one.
Having been a refugee twice, I deeply understand the challenges faced by displaced children, families, and communities. This is what motivates and inspires me to come to work every day and deliver for the world’s most vulnerable children.
My passion and journey with education began in Eastern Chad, where I volunteered as a secondary school teacher and later taught project management at a health school for nurses. Years later, while conducting monitoring visits to health centres in refugee camps, I discovered that many were being run by my former students. This formative experience solidified my belief in the transformative power of education and fueled my lifelong dedication to improving lives through learning.
On a recent trip to Gaza, I visited several shelters for displaced families. These shelters have become temporary homes as houses have been destroyed and basic services such as clean water, food and education have been severely disrupted or become entirely unavailable. Despite facing immense challenges, parents and caregivers prioritized their children's play and learning. During the day, makeshift beds were moved aside to create space for children to engage in recreational and psychosocial activities. Seeing their smiles and hearing their laughter was unforgettable. It was a powerful reminder that even in the most dire circumstances, education offers a glimmer of hope and fosters resilience.
I have also seen how simple, yet innovative learning solutions, can be a game changer for children in crisis. In Cameroon, radio education programmes have been successful in supporting children to learn even when schools are closed. While deployed there many years ago, I worked with local authorities to create a hybrid radio education programme for children affected by the insurgency. This initiative delivered essential literacy and numeracy lessons by combining local radio broadcasts with educational content on USB drives. For many children that were out of school due to insecurity, the lessons restored a sense of normalcy and stability.
One of the most significant moments in my career was working with UNICEF during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. With schools closed for nearly a year, we partnered with the Ministry of Education to ensure children continued learning safely. We swiftly trained teachers on Ebola prevention, education in emergencies, and psychosocial support to address students' mental health and well-being. Additionally, we collaborated with the Ministry of Education to broadcast key Ebola prevention messages each morning before school started. These initiatives were crucial in ensuring schools could reopen safely and children remained safe to learn.
From my experiences working in emergencies, education is a vital component of any humanitarian response. It is essential for safeguarding and promoting the development of uprooted children. Whether it is a temporary learning space, tent or a school, these educational settings not only provide a safe space for children to process trauma and receive psychosocial support but also protects them from exploitation and other risks.
In an increasingly hostile world, education systems must become more resilient and adaptable to respond to the rapidly changing dynamics of emergencies. Harnessing and integrating technology and digital learning in education in emergencies is also critical. Equally as important, we must enhance psychosocial support for both children and teachers and improve coordination among humanitarian partners and local actors to ensure sustainable education solutions for children in crisis.
Sharing my experiences on World Humanitarian Day, I am humbled to be considered a humanitarian and I also want to thank my fellow humanitarians for all that they do to protect every child’s right to learn.
Education is not only a powerful tool for rebuilding lives and fostering resilience in the face of adversity, education is every child’s right!
Sarhane Mahmat Khamis is an Education Specialist, Emergency Response Team at UNICEF