IKEA visits UNICEF education projects in Mozambique

June 14, 2012

Recently a group of IKEA co-workers from Denmark was able to visit UNICEF educational projects in Mozambique.

Mozambique has suffered from low levels of literacy, especially among women, for years. The 2003 Demographic and Health Survey recorded that 62 per cent of women were illiterate, compared to 33 per cent of men.

UNICEF is working to improve education in the most vulnerable districts in seven provinces of Mozambique.

UNICEF is helping schools become more child-friendly, so children have a safe, healthy and child-friendly learning environment. They’re improving school environments – including classroom buildings, access to water, sanitation and hygiene. Because children need to be healthy to go to school and to benefit fully from education, UNICEF is also improving health and hygiene education and physical education programmes.

They’re particularly focusing on orphaned and vulnerable children, to make sure they have the means to attend school. They’re also working hard to ensure that girls are not left behind.

Through the IKEA Foundation’s Soft Toys for Education campaign, we are supporting UNICEF’s educational projects.

Here are some pictures of the people our coworkers met, taken by Adjowii Özdemir, Corporate Alliances Officer at UNICEF.

The majority of the schools in the neighborhood are made of thatch -- only a few concrete schools have been constructed.
The majority of the schools in the neighborhood are made of thatch -- only a few concrete schools have been constructed.
A malnurished, orphaned and vulnerable child in a compound the village of Chibuto.
A malnurished, orphaned and vulnerable child in a compound in Chibuto. UNICEF is working to give vulnerable children a quality education so they have hope for the future.
IKEA Denmark Co-workers gather around to listen to a single-mother of four describe her trials and tribulations.
IKEA Denmark coworkers gather around to listen to a single mother of four as she describes her trials and tribulations.
A widowed-mother of four sits with her youngest child in front of her one room home in in Chibuto.
A widowed mother of four sits with her youngest child in front of her one-room home in Chibuto.
The youngest of four children in a single-parented household coworkers visited in Chibuto looks on with curiosity as the group settles down for a discussion.
The youngest of four children in a single-parent household in Chibuto looks on with curiosity as the group settles down for a discussion.
A group of young filmmakers and producers that worked on the IKEA Foundation co-funded one-minute junior films talk about the experience of telling and filming their stories on what education means to them.
A group of young filmmakers and producers that worked on the IKEA Foundation co-funded one-minute junior films talk about the experience of telling and filming their stories on what education means to them. You can watch their films at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxS8N1DXTi8

Want to know more? Read a blog by UNICEF worker Marie-Consolee

Watch the one-minute junior films on YouTube

All images ©UNICEF/ Mozambique 2012/Adjowii Jolin Özdemir

English

    Written by

    Juli Riegler