Mary Maker, a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and South Sudanese refugee, has urged global leaders to prioritize education and employment opportunities for refugees, noting that millions of refugee children are missing out on school.
Maker fled South Sudan as a child and grew up in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, where access to education changed the course of her life. She later became a teacher in the camp and now advocates for refugee girls’ education through her nonprofit Elimisha Kakuma and her role as a Goodwill Ambassador appointed in 2023.
In a recent statement covered by Al Jazeera, Maker highlighted the urgent need for investment in refugee education and livelihoods, drawing from her personal experience of finding security and hope through schooling in the camp.
Her advocacy aligns with broader UNHCR efforts to support refugee inclusion in education systems worldwide, though specific current global figures on out-of-school refugee children require further verification from official UNHCR reports.
