Why are boys and teenagers most prone to dropping out of school in Jordan? Why are Syrian children up to 10 times more likely to drop out than Jordanian children? And why is the return on education so uneven for different groups? In December 2020, Prof Franziska Gassmann took part in the launch event of the Jordan Country Report on Out-of-School Children, produced under the auspices of UNICEF Jordan. She was joined by representatives from the Ministry of Education, international organisations an...
UNICEF Kyrgyzstan has just released two new reports co-authored by Franziska Gassmann and Eszter Timar: a multidimensional poverty assessment for the Kyrgyz Republic, and a position paper on social assistance for poor families with children. The first report proposes a national multidimensional poverty index (MPI) tailored specifically to the Kyrgyz Republic. It incorporates indicators related to health, education, food security, living conditions and monetary poverty. Such a measure provides a ...
I’ve worked for UNICEF on programme planning, monitoring and evaluation, focusing not only on countries in development but also humanitarian contexts. This has given me a deep understanding of how to tailor programmes in order to ensure a timely and effective response – especially in emergency situations. As I grew professionally, my interest shifted to research, social policy and social protection. I decided therefore to start a PhD on social policy and social protection....
Today is Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, and in homage to his philosophy and strategy of non-violence, the UN has marked it as the International Day of Non-Violence. In India, the countdown has also begun for 2 October 2019, the target date set to attain the Swachh Bharat or Clean India Mission (SBM). The SBM has the noble intention of making India ‘open defecation free’ (ODF) and millions of low-cost toilets are being built across the country towards this aim. But, to achieve the ODF mis...
Ahead of a recent UNICEF 'Tweetchat' on child social protection, Dr. Mindel van de Laar caught up with alumna Dr. Keetie Roelen, who now works for the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex in the UK. Here's what they had to say about the past, present and future of our global development work....
UNICEF’s latest report on the ‘State of the World’s Children’ says there are 150 million 5-to-17-year-olds caught up in the world of work. Ahead of ‘World Day Against Child Labour‘, 12 June, Dr. Sepideh Yousefzadeh looks at the essential context with a case study from Iran. I walk on the streets of Tehran after five years away, this time with my daughter. Everything is different. Tehran is more relaxed, peaceful and happy. The municipality is doing a great job in providin...
Nepal was struck by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake on 25 April — a disaster that killed thousands of people. Many more were injured or displaced, including countless children. PhD fellow Vincenzo Vinci, who works for UNICEF Nepal, sent this update as part of a Q&A with GPAC² Director Dr. Mindel van de Laar. UNICEF’s first priority is to protect children. Has the recent disaster changed the needs of children in Nepal? How has UNICEF responded? VV: Obviously the recent earthquake has c...
Disability is a global challenge, involving not just physical problems but also many social and integration issues. In 2012, around 1 billion people worldwide were living with disabilities, including 400 million living in poverty in lower income countries. Of these, many are children. In Kazakhstan in 2012, 1.33% of children under 18 were living with disabilities — higher than neighbouring countries such as Kyrgyzstan at 1.25% and Tajikistan at 0.80%. A new report commissioned by UNICEF a...
I started my PhD in 2008 as a mid-career professional, having already worked for several years in Iran and a few years in Afghanistan. Due to my previous experience, I realized that I wanted to continue working with children. I also wanted to work on Iran as I thought my local knowledge would be a key advantage for the study. Back then I was working for UNICEF, so I started my PhD as a part-time GPAC² fellow. Around the same time UNICEF introduced its global study on child poverty. I was working...