UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra spends time with refugee children in Ethiopia

Indian actress Priyanka Chopra is currently in Ethiopia to promote access to education for refugee children.

Priyanka Chopra is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations children's agency. She spoke with The Associated Press after visiting a school for refugees from neighbouring Sudan.

Priyanka Chopra, who recently married Nick Jonas, says that "if we don't care about these children, I feel that they will be extremely vulnerable to extremism and violence."

The Bambusi camp's primary school director, Yetinayet Girma, told Priyanka Chopra they have shortages of teachers, classrooms and textbooks for over 6,000 students. UNICEF says Ethiopia has 906,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers mainly from neighbouring South Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia.

Priyanka Chopra calls that "incredible, given that Ethiopia itself is not such a well-to-do country." She says the world should learn from the government's commitment to refugee children's welfare. She took to Instagram to update her global fans about her trip to Ethiopia. She is also heard discussing her association with UNICEF and how prefers to highlight its education programme. "Hi everyone, I am on a very special trip. I have just touched down on Ethiopia and it is raining. We are in Addis (Ababa) right now. Apparently, it is the first day of rain here. So I feel good about that. But it is an extremely special trip and I hope that you all will come on this journey with me," she says.

"I am in Ethiopia for a specific reason. I want to highlight UNICEF's education programme when it comes to children and youth in the country. There is a huge barrier when it comes to access to education for children, especially because there are so many dropouts in school which begin as soon as kids start school. The primary education goes from STD 1 to STD 8 and secondary education is after that. We see dropouts of children even from STD 1," Priyanka Chopra adds.

The 36-year old actress has also shared several clips that show she has spent beautiful time with school children, playing and dancing with them.

View this post on Instagram

Absolutely nothing better than hugs from kids 🇪🇹@unicef @unicefethiopia #achildisachild #foreverychild

A post shared by Priyanka Chopra Jonas (@priyankachopra) on May 20, 2019 at 9:11am PDT

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