UNICEF, EU Launch €1m Lifeline to Rescue 20,000 Conflict-Hit Children in Sokoto
Hussaini Ibrahim 
SOKOTO, Nigeria – Thousands of conflict-affected children in northwestern Nigeria are set to return to classrooms following a €1 million emergency education intervention launched by UNICEF and the European Union.
The 24-month programme, funded through the EU’s humanitarian arm, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, is expected to support more than 20,000 children aged five to 17 across internally displaced persons camps and host communities in Sokoto State.
Unveiled on Thursday, the initiative targets the growing education crisis driven by insecurity, displacement and poverty in Nigeria’s North-West.
“No child should have their future determined by conflict,” said Alexandre Castellano, warning that prolonged disruption to learning can have lifelong consequences.
The programme will prioritise returning out-of-school children to classrooms, providing remedial education for those already enrolled, improving school sanitation facilities and offering psychosocial support to traumatised pupils.
According to Wafaa Saeed, the intervention comes at a critical moment as insecurity continues to disrupt access to education and basic services.
Sokoto, like several states in the region, has faced recurring bandit attacks, kidnappings and village raids, forcing families to flee and leaving thousands of children out of school.
Beyond classroom access, the initiative will train teachers in crisis-sensitive methods, establish child-friendly learning spaces and drive community-led enrolment campaigns.
Development partners say the programme is designed not only to restore learning but to build long-term resilience in communities repeatedly affected by conflict and displacement.
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