Met prijzengeld Nobelprijs helpt EU kinderen in oorlogsgebieden (en)
The EU has used the proceeds of the Nobel Prize to help children affected by wars receive an education.
In 2012 the EU received the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the causes of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe. The EU decided to dedicate the prize money to children who are denied the chance of growing up in peace.
Of the approximately 75 million children who are out of school worldwide, half live in conflict areas. However, humanitarian assistance for education is severely underfunded. For this reason the EU decided to support emergency-education projects across the globe.
The EU more than doubled the Nobel award (€930,000), to €2 million. As a result, more than 28,000 children have so far benefited from the four projects selected last year.
EU Children of Peace projects
The projects focus on providing educational support and are implemented with reputed humanitarian partners of the EU: in Iraq with ACTED, in Pakistan with UNICEF, in Colombia and Ecuador with UNHCR and in Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo with Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
In Iraq the project allows young Syrian refugees aged 5 to 15 to participate in supervised recreational and therapeutic activities.
To support Somali, Sudanese and Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia, around €500 000 has been spent on the construction of safe learning spaces, the rehabilitation of existing classrooms as well as the distribution of schoolbags, teacher’s kits and recreation sets.
Next steps
As a lasting political legacy of the Nobel Peace Prize, and as a targeted tool for education in conflict zones, the EU will continue this initiative in the years to come.
For 2014, the EU has again doubled the resources, allocating a further €4 million to cover both existing and new projects, which will benefit more than 80 000 children affected by war.
From war to peace - A European tale [498 KB]