{
  "id": 11535795,
  "title": "UN says 5.8mil refugee children out of school",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/un-says-5-8mil-refugee-children-out-of-school",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-02T21:37:33.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/highlight/2026/10/03/un-says-5-8mil-refugee-children-out-of-school"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, revealed that 5.8 million refugee children worldwide missed out on education in 2025. This figure represents 44% of the 13.1 million school-age refugee children, according to the agency. The situation was made even more concerning by the fact that while 65% of refugee children in primary school were enrolled in education, only 32% were enrolled in secondary school. The UN high commissioner for refugees, Barham Salih, emphasized that education serves as a crucial form of protection and a route to opportunity and self-reliance. He lamented that cuts to education could undo decades of investment and deny a generation of young people the chance to succeed. Salih recalled that education had provided him with opportunities that displacement might otherwise have denied him. The UNHCR's report highlighted that while 32% of refugee children in secondary school received education in 2025, enrolment in tertiary education reached an unprecedented 11%. However, the agency warned that severe cuts to funding threatened to exacerbate the crisis. In 2024, UNHCR had received $5.2 billion in funding, but this amount had dwindled to $3.9 billion in 2025. Meanwhile, the number of people it is mandated to protect remains at historically high levels. The agency projected that it required $8.5 billion in 2025 to continue providing essential protection services, yet as of July, it had only received 32% of that amount, amounting to $2.7 billion. Furthermore, nearly 8.3 million refugees and other forcibly displaced individuals were at risk of losing vital assistance due to the mounting funding cuts.",
  "summary": "UN refugee chief Barham Salih says cuts to education funding risk reversing decades of investment, limiting opportunities for young people.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "UN says 5.8mil refugee children out of school",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/un-says-5-8mil-refugee-children-out-of-school-11536519",
        "published": "2026-10-02T21:37:33.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}