Yaounde, Cameroon — Illiteracy among young people is almost three times as high in countries hit by war or disaster, with women and girls worst affected, the UN said on Wednesday. France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Senegalese President Macky Sall will open a conference on Thursday in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, to raise money for the Global Partnership for Education, a fund aiming to ensure all children go to school. "An uneducated child who grows into an illiterate youth in a country ripped apart by conflict or destroyed by disasters may not have much of a chance," Henrietta Fore, executive director of the UN’s children’s fund, said in a statement. Here are some facts about illiteracy: • Nearly three in 10 young people aged between 15 and 24 living in countries afflicted by war or disaster are illiterate. • Niger has the world’s highest rate of youth illiteracy, with 76% of 15-to 24-year-olds unable to read or write. • Conflict-ridden Chad, South Sudan and the Central African Rep...
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