The programme brings together numerous countries around the world, and since 2008 it has included kindergartens and schools in Croatia.
Through this programme, which has been implemented globally for 19 years, 30 million children in Africa have been given the opportunity to go to school.
Educational institutions in Croatia have so far raised more than €1.1 million in donations for the most vulnerable children of Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Rwanda. The funds were used to build new and renovate existing schools, buy new textbooks and school supplies and to invest in the critically important water infrastructure in many communities across Africa, said the deputy head of the UNICEF Office Croatia, Ana Dautović.
In addition to the material assistance, the most vulnerable children were provided with psycho-social assistance and support for the continuation of their education. Access to pre-school education was increased and the education of girls promoted.
Over the past 15 years the programme was implemented in 978 educational institutions in Croatia. Every year, more than 250 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools and other educational institutions cooperate in the programme.
Access to education is still only a dream for more than 100 million children in Africa. Poverty, lack of safe school buildings, the remoteness of schools, and discrimination in society are the obstacles to education that these children cannot bridge. In Ethiopia alone, as many as 17 million children do not have access to education while 9.6 million urgently need support to continue with education, necessary for their healthy development.
The UNICEF programme acquaints children and young people in Croatia with children's rights, with the importance of education in building a future for every child, and it empowers them to actively participate in social change, developing solidarity with their peers who cannot access education without support, it was said.