Kuwait says will host a major Somalia donor conference

KUWAIT – The Deputy Foreign Minister of Kuwait, Khaled Al-Jarallah has announced that his country will host a donor conference to support Somalia's ailing education sector next year, Garowe Online reports.

Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reports that Al-Jarallah presided over a meeting on Sunday in preparation for the forum which becomes the first of its kind the Gulf nation to hold for war-torn Somalia.

The Deputy FM met with a number of Kuwaiti diplomats and education ministry officials, aimed to ensure that the gathering of international donors to support Somalia would go off without a hitch.

Five days ago, the United States Embassy Mogadishu through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced nearly $50 million in additional education funding to help Somalia.

The funds aimed to implement a five-year program Bar Ama Baro (“Teach or Learn” in Somali) intended to increase access to quality education and support accelerated learning for out-of-school children and youth who have been persistently left behind.

The Federal Government of Somalia which heavily relies on international finance assistance declared last week it will standardize schools with the first new curriculum since the civil war began. 

The new books cover English, Arabic, Somali, maths, Islamic studies, science, physical education, technology, and social studies. UN said Somalia has one of the world’s lowest enrolment rates, with only 4 out of 10 children in school.

GAROWE ONLINE