Solar-powered radios are helping conflict-affected and displaced children follow lessons outside of the classroom. SÉGOU REGION, Mali – Persistent insecurity in central and northern Mali has helped fuel a protracted humanitarian crisis, disrupting access to education, health and other services, and displacing more than 300,000 people – more than half of them children.

COVID-19 has compounded the problem. Before the pandemic, direct threats and attacks on education had forced the closure of around 1,300 schools in central and northern regions. But pandemic-related measures shuttered schools across the country for most of 2020, leaving many of the most vulnerable young people unable to access education.

UNICEF has been distributing solar-powered radios in conflict-affected areas to vulnerable households and listening groups, where as many as 15 young people can make use of the same radio. The devices provide an educational lifeline for those who might otherwise be cut off from classes and complement the efforts of temporary learning spaces that have been established at sites for internally displaced persons to ensure that children can continue to learn in safety.
Aichata, 15, used to attend school in Diabaly, a rural town in the south-central region of Ségou. A few months after Aichata’s school closed, her father decided the family should move to the town of Ségou, where she was enrolled at the Adama Dagnon school. The school provided her with a solar-powered radio to allow her to continue learning out of hours and make up for lost time. “I could attend classes with this radio. It helped me catch up with my studies,” she says.

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