War, regional strife, & natural disaster are decimating close to 25% of children’s futures in crisis-hit countries. Along with life’s essentials (water, food, and shelter) education is an integral component for their future survival and societal, family, and community’s well-being.

UNICEF has issued a new report,  “Education Cannot Wait” and a new fund to  to provide access to learning for children in need in emergencies. “Education changes lives in emergencies,” said Josephine Bourne, UNICEF’s Global Chief of Education. “Going to school keeps children safe from abuses like trafficking and recruitment into armed groups and is a vital investment in children’s futures and in the future of their communities.”

Diplomat Artist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom made a recent visit to a classroom in conflict-stricken eastern Ukraine.  In the country to raise awareness of the global education crisis facing children in emergencies, Mr. Bloom says: “I met children like 11-year-old Liana who hid in the basement of their school for almost two weeks, in freezing conditions, without lighting or heat, while shelling devastated the classrooms above.” “Now, after surviving some of the most terrifying experiences life could possibly throw at them, all they want is to get back to the safety and routine of school and plan for their futures.”

Their futures and #EducationCannotWait!

(For full article, see: “Nearly a Quarter of the World’s School-age Children Live in Crisis Hit Countries.”)

For more stories, read:  Montclair Diplomats via Huffington Post “Is Education a Human Right?”

For related stories on DiplomatArtist.com, see: “#Bosnian First Graders #Sign Love & Acceptance” and  “Half of the Globe’s Countries Get a Failing Grade” and “Orlando Bloom Looks into the Eyes of Ebola, a Very Young Face”