In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, every third child doesn't get the chance to go to school, trapped behind an insurmountable wall of ignorance, poverty and discrimination.
UNICEF SFA International Fundraising Campaign was initiated in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Hamburg Society, newly renamed to Peter Krämer Stiftung, for the promotion of Democracy and International Law.
Launched in Cape Town on December 6, 2004, Schools for Africa was the brainchild of German shipping magnate Peter Krämer, who has personally donated EUR 3.8 million (around USD 5.0 million) to the campaign. Since then, it has continued to attract contributions totalling many millions of dollars from prominent corporate, state and individual donors.
After a very successful first phase (2005-2009) aiming at raising 50 million $ to benefit 4 million children in 6 countries in Africa, Schools for Africa Phase II (2010-2013) is now launched and aims at raising a further 70 million $ to benefit 8 million more children now in 11 countries in Africa.
In the context of the child-friendly "Schools for Africa" initiative, UNICEF is working with governments, local authorities, communities and other partners in 11 of Africa’s most needy countries including Angola, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe to create those conditions that will attract children to school, keep them there and provide them with a safe and protective environment where they can learn and play.
Our focus is on helping the most disadvantaged – orphans, children living in extreme poverty, and girls. Scalability and sustainability are key elements of the campaign. Villagers work alongside UNICEF to build local schools themselves, then take over responsibility for maintaining and running them. At the same time, UNICEF strives to help national agencies institutionalize and scale-up the Schools for Africa approach and framework, so that local successes can be replicated many times over, across the country.
Learn more about the programme
See a photo essay on problems facing many children in Africa
Schools for Africa is making a significant contribution to Nelson Mandela's legacy and vision for the education of Africa's children and the alleviation of poverty, particularly in rural areas.
We need your help to ensure that millions of children in Africa have an education and a better future."
