Jul. 3, 2009 (WAM) -- The Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation (KBZF) Thursday signed an agreement with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support children in Afghanistan through a number of humanitarian and development initiatives. Mohammed Haji Al Khoori, KBZF Executive Director, signed the agreement for his side, while Dr. Ayman Abu Laban, UNICEF Representative in the Gulf Area, also signed for his outfit. "The agreement between the KBZF and the UNICEF is one of the many partnerships which the KBZF seeks to build with governmental and private institutions. The aim of these partnerships is to help fulfill the dreams and hopes of underprivileged communities and especially children who suffer from sever neglect due to wars and unstable economic situations" said Al Khoori.

Through this agreement, both parties will work together to support educational programmes in Afghanistan. Statistics show that more than 2 million Afghan children do not attend primary school and literacy levels are declining. Afghanistan is in urgent need for 100,000 qualified primary school teachers and especially females who represent only 28% of the total number of teachers. Knowing that, if existing at all, schools are usually in very poor conditions and the percentage of students versus teachers is very high.

"We commend the humanitarian efforts by the United Arab Emirates and especially the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation to stop the distress of people and communities who suffer from wars and natural disasters. Thanks to the foundation's generous donation, UNICEF will be able to provide the much needed support to promote education for all children in Afghanistan," said Dr. Abu Laban. This support from the Khalifa bin Zayed Foundation will be utilised for the procurement and distribution of teaching and learning materials for over 2.6 million students of grades 1-3 and for over 114,000 primary teachers and that will contribute to increase primary school net enrolment for girls by 20 per cent in the next five years period. Besides the direct contribution in increasing the educational access for the children, the provision of teaching and learning materials will help ensure regular attendance of children at schools, improve smooth teaching-learning practice in classroom and thus help in quality improvement.

"We are certain that through this agreement we will help lessen the suffering of children in Afghanistan knowing that a significant number of children do not go to school" Added Al-Khoori. This agreement is the second after the one signed with OXFAM last Tuesday to provide relief support to Afghanistan and which is in line with the foundation's objective to build strategic partnerships with international institutions and organisations that focus on empowering poor communities especially in the areas of health and education.