Over nine million children are currently out of school across Ethiopia due to conflict, violence and natural disasters, with more than 6,000 schools shut down, according to the United Nations…UNICEF said Ethiopia’s education sector has been “devastated” because of conflicts, natural disasters and internal displacement…Conflict has forced the closure of many schools in the Amhara and Oromia regions, where rebel groups are fighting government forces…Meanwhile, some public schools in the ancient Tigray city of Axum have banned Islamic headscarves, forcing 159 female students to miss school, Muslim organizations in Ethiopia said…Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education allows Muslim female students to wear headscarves in schools. The Islamic affairs council said the actions of Axum schools are not acceptable…A source from the Education Bureau in Axum who requested anonymity as he is not allowed to speak with media, told VOA that out of the 15 schools in Axum, four have banned the wearing of the hijab. However, the students said they wore the hijab when attending schools in previous years, including last year.

Over nine million children are currently out of school across Ethiopia due to conflict, violence and natural disasters, with more than 6,000 schools shut down, according to the United Nations…UNICEF said Ethiopia’s education sector has been “devastated” because of conflicts, natural disasters and internal displacement…Conflict has forced the closure of many schools in the Amhara and Oromia regions, where rebel groups are fighting government forces…Meanwhile, some public schools in the ancient Tigray city of Axum have banned Islamic headscarves, forcing 159 female students to miss school, Muslim organizations in Ethiopia said…Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education allows Muslim female students to wear headscarves in schools. The Islamic affairs council said the actions of Axum schools are not acceptable…A source from the Education Bureau in Axum who requested anonymity as he is not allowed to speak with media, told VOA that out of the 15 schools in Axum, four have banned the wearing of the hijab. However, the students said they wore the hijab when attending schools in previous years, including last year.

As the first African country to lead the trillion-dollar G20 group, South Africa will spend 2025 pushing debt relief, climate change and international justice issues. This means there’s a lot at stake for Brics and developing nations…Pretoria aims to put African development priorities firmly on the G20 agenda – and more broadly, those of the Global South. South Africa took over the rotating presidency of the grouping in December, and will host its main annual summit in November 2025, before handing over to the United States. The forum unites 19 of the world’s largest economies plus the European Union, who meet regularly to coordinate global policies on trade, health, climate and other issues. The group granted the African Union membership in 2023. South Africa is the last member of the G20 to hold the presidency of the group, which was set up in 1999 to create a platform for the world’s most dynamic economies beyond the G7…Debt relief, climate change and peacekeeping are expected to dominate this year’s G20 discussions.

The United States has formally declared that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces have committed genocide during the country’s ongoing civil war, marking the second time in less than 30 years that genocide has been perpetrated in Sudan. Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, announced the determination on Tuesday while imposing sanctions on the RSF commander Mohammad Hamdan Daglo – known as Hemedti – for his role in what he described as “systematic atrocities”, many perpetrated in west Darfur. While both the RSF and rival Sudanese Armed Forces have been accused of committing war crimes during the civil war which broke out in 2023, and which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, Blinken detailed a pattern of systematic ethnic violence in which RSF had killed civilians as they tried to flee, and blocked access to essential supplies.