The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has welcomed the US$360 million fund launched by Haiti’s new president to ensure the most disadvantaged children in the country can go to school.
The National Fund for Education (FNE), announced two weeks ago by President Michel Martelly, is the biggest fund of its kind ever envisaged for out-of-school children in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
Haiti’s education system was devastated by the earthquake in January 2010, according to UNESCO, even before the disaster, only one in five children had access to a public school. A large segment of the population was deprived of education because parents lacked the financial resources to pay the registration fee.
The fund is a multi-sectoral consortium which groups the Haitian government, the private sector, international financial institutions and non-governmental organizations. It is chiefly composed of a five-cent deduction on incoming international phone calls and $1.50 on international money transfers. (Excerpt from UN News Centre)
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