George, 6, watches a game at the refugee transit point while his family awaits travel information. (© UNICEF / Moldovan)

"I opened Facebook and my world turned upside down"

When Aurica Rață and her parents heard loud noises in the early hours of February 24, they thought it was a storm. Then the truth dawned on them...“I opened Facebook and in just a few minutes my world turned upside down,” she said.

Aurica is a Global Youth Ambassador for Theirworld. She lives in Moldova, which is bordered on three sides by Ukraine. In a powerful blog for Theirworld, Aurica writes about the effects of the Russian invasion. More than 135,000 Ukrainian children have crossed into Moldova and Aurica argues for urgent action to provide them with a safe space to learn.

She adds: “Mothers are scared for their children’s future, mental health and wellbeing. The only thing that helps parents cope with their fear is for their children to continue with their education.”

Read Aurica's story

Next week, Theirworld will be travelling to Moldova with the UN and Education Cannot Wait to speak to refugees and partner organisations about how we can support the Ukrainian education response. Keep an eye out for our report in next week's newsletter.

Walk 26 miles for 260m children not in school

Who’s up for a challenge? As a Theirworld supporter, you know that 260 million children are missing out on school around the world. Here’s one way you can help to address that.

We’ve just launched Theirworld, Your Walk. We’re asking people to walk 26 miles in June to raise urgently-needed funds for our mission to end the global education crisis for vulnerable and marginalised children. You can do Your Walk your way. You can walk it in one day, a weekend, a week or spread over the month. Walk when and where you want, alone or with friends.

Covid lockdowns hit early childhood development

Covid lockdowns have left young children struggling to crawl, talk, make friends and use the toilet independently, says the UK's chief inspector of schools in a report which highlights why early years education is so important.

Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, Ofsted Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman said: "Early education has many benefits for young children…I think we really can see from this natural experiment, of having had two years when many children have missed so much, quite what it's done. We really need to value it."

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Thank you,

The Their News team