By Rudina Vojvoda

© UNICEF/NYHQ2013/Markisz
Youth reading the adolescent-friendly version of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples during a launch event for the publication held at UNICEF’s New York headquarters.

In this episode of Beyond School Books, a distinguished panel discusses realizing the right of indigenous peoples to education that is appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.

NEW YORK, 10 June 2013 – Of the 370 million indigenous people in the world, approximately 67 million are youth. Know Your Rights! – the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) written specifically for indigenous adolescents – is aiming to do exactly that: encourage young people to know their rights, protect them and become an active part of decision-making in their community.

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The right of indigenous peoples to education that is appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning has been recognized and protected since the adoption of UNDRIP in 2007. Almost seven years later, to what degree is this right realized?

In this Beyond School Books episode, podcast moderator Rachel Bonham Carter talked to Grand Chief Edward John, North American Representative to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; Gabriele Papa, a senior high school student and secretary of the Salamanca High School Model United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; and Krysta Williams, Advocacy and Outreach Coordinator for the Native Youth Sexual Health Network.

© UNICEF/NYHQ-2013/Markisz
Article 3 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Achieving equity in education

According to Grand Chief Edward John, even though it is a fundamental right, education is not always available to indigenous communities. “In some places, we have education at a very minimum standard, for housekeeping or labour, and some instances just enough education to continue the master-slave relationship which we have seen and heard of in parts of the world,” he said.

He believes that following standards as defended by UNDRIP is imperative in achieving equity in education. “Those standards are not new, by any means, but they…provide a framework for all of us to be able to live with and to ensure that state parties and UN agencies do their bit to provide the necessary commitment, political will and resources to realize and improve standards in education,” he added.

Including cultural elements

Ms. Papa said that her community members support education, but including cultural elements in curricula hasn’t been easy. “The [cultural] class has been threatened before to be gone, and it’s really important for us that it is still there,” she said. “We want to expand, we want more classes, we want more ways to learn about our culture. We want to learn about all the things that are not taught in school, the bad things that happened and the good things.” According to Ms. Papa, Salamanca High School is the only school in the reservation that has a cultural teacher.

Ms. Williams agreed and pointed out the benefits not only of including culture in the curriculum but also applying it as a learning method. “If we are talking about issues of literacy, we go beyond the written word and think about visual – but what about our theatres, what about our traditional indigenous ways of crafting and doing arts?” she said. “Think about how we can go further about educating people about the human rights, the declaration of the rights of the indigenous peoples specifically using a huge variety of art-based methods that are quite effective in any area of education.”

30 May 2013 – A key component of the Peacebuilding Education and Advocacy programmme will be how early life experiences can set the state for future, positive interactions. Latest neuroscienctific research on early childhood development is rooted in neurobiology, affiliative bonding, parent education and early learning. These latest insights highlight the significance and nature of early childhood interventions and their potential for peacebuilding.

The Ecology of Peace: Formative Childhoods and Peace Building, A Conceptual Framework – FULL REPORT
The Ecology of Peace: Formative Childhoods and Peace Building, A Conceptual Framework – SLIDES

BUCHAREST, 24 May 2013 – This week, Romania’s Ministry of Education and UNICEF, in partnership with the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Protection and Senior Citizens, the National Institute of Statistics and the Institute of Education Sciences have launched “All Children in School by 2015 – the Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children: Romania Country Study”. The report was developed as part of the global Out-of-School Children Initiative, an equity focused effort developed by UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics aiming to reduce the number of out-of-school children, address disparities in access and attendance and achieve universal primary education by 2015.

Access the report: All Children in School by 2015. Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children: Romania Country Study

A second chance

Damian is 15 years old. He dropped out of school when he was just nine and about to complete third grade. That period was rough for his family. His father had lost his job and his mother could barely make ends meet working as a cleaner. His parents would often argue and the children went to bed on an empty stomach. Tired, hungry and confused, Damian stopped going to school all together.

©UNICEF Romania
Damian in one of his classes at the Second Chance.

Things got worse when his parents divorced three years later. Unable to take care of four children, the parents decided to split them up: the youngest child stayed home with the mother while Damian and his two other siblings followed the father to the city of Santana in Arad County.

After struggling for a few months in the new city, Damian joined Second Chance, an education and housing centre that offers a better quality of life to young adults from disadvantaged groups in Romania. Here Damian is given a chance at catching up with his education in a safe and healthy living environment.

The rules at Second Chance are strict: only children who attend school are allowed to stay. But this is not the only reason why Damien rushes to school every morning. He wants to acquire the skills necessary to get a job and become financially independent. “I don’t turn up to lessons just because it’s obligatory. I want to learn so I can earn a living”, says Damian.

Yet, he is not sure of what the future holds for him. Damian doesn’t know how long he will attend this school or even if he will complete secondary school. At the moment, Damian’s aspirations of cultivating a professional life and career path seem like a distant dream. But he knows for sure that he will not give up his family. “Odd jobs will do me fine. When I need money, I’ll work. The rest of the time I want to be with my family. I want to go back to my mum as soon as I finish school”, says Damian.

At age fifteen, Damian has some hard choices to make. Should he stay at the Second Chance and pursue a much needed opportunity for a quality education or go back to his hometown to be with his mother?

For now, he spends most of his days at the school with other children like him who are trying to reconcile with the past and to build a future together.

Short summary of the report
Press release

More on the Out-of-School Children Initiative at unicef.org

By Meena Bhandari

Six months after Typhoon Bopha took more than 1,000 lives and displaced more than a million people, teaching and learning are starting up again in elementary schools across affected parts of the Philippines.

NEW BATAAN, Philippines, 13 May 2013 – Glenn Larabez can’t wait to go back to school. The 8-year-old usually attends second grade in his village in New Bataan in the province of Compostela Valley. As he speaks about the typhoon that destroyed his family’s home and stole away his pet bird, Alimokon, his voice becomes quiet, matching his tiny frame.

A dream

“My brother had a dream that the typhoon was coming. He lives in Manila, but he came back home the night of the typhoon, and we all ran to a safe place on higher ground.” Glenn says. “The water was as high as the coconut trees.”

Only four houses in his village survived Typhoon Bopha when it struck last December, making it one of the worst-hit municipalities of New Bataan.

“We would all be dead if it wasn’t for my big brother,” Glenn adds.

Glenn and his family returned to their land after the typhoon to find nothing of their house remained: “We came back to where our house stood before the typhoon. But then we couldn’t leave our land again, because the muddy water was too fast and became too high. So we had to stay the night. We ate bananas and raw food to survive.”

© UNICEF Philippines/2013
UNICEF is supporting programmes to ensure children have safe spaces to learn in and recover from the trauma of losing homes and loved ones.

A nightmare

The family’s temporary home is the grandstand of the sports complex with around 600 other men, women and children. They sleep in makeshift shelters on the wooden steps meant for sports fans and spectators.

“I miss doing my chores in my house. I miss washing up,” Glenn says. “I miss sleeping in my bed, I miss Alimokon, and I miss playing with my six cousins who are also missing.”

Glenn describes how his mother has been fainting in the grandstand, still frightened by memories of the typhoon. Glenn too has nightmares and is scared when it rains or when the wind picks up.

Back to routine

“Children have been greatly affected,” says UNICEF Education Specialist Aminin Abubakar. “But because they continue to laugh and play on the outside, people don’t always appreciate the serious emotional difficulties they now face.”

“Getting back to school and beginning to talk about what happened to them in a safe, secure environment with teachers who have been trained in psychosocial support is vital so that children do not bury these memories,” he says.

Returning to school quickly after a disaster also reduces their risks and vulnerabilities to exploitation and abuse in other forms, like child labour or trafficking.

Meanwhile, Glenn plays checkers with his friends in a temporary school. “I can’t wait to get new books and start writing again,” he says.

By Chris Niles

NEW YORK, United States of America, 14 May 2013 – Gender equality and education will be critical in planning the development agenda that succeeds the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning Amina Mohammed.

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With the international community assessing the gains made by the MDGs and forging a path for the future after the 2015 deadline, Ms. Mohammed has been appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to help create an inclusive and sustainable development plan.

She says that gender equality is a crucial focus of her role.

© UNICEF/Pornpenn Phumtim
Ms. Amina Mohammed during an UNGEI panel discussion with Sumaya Saluja, a youth leader from India and Nicholas Alipui, UNICEF Director of Programme.

“It’s about recognizing where the gaps are, and keeping them front and centre,” she explains. “Rather than see people as a burden or as an addition to a development agenda which looks to become heavier and heavier, is to see that it can lighten the burden by investing in those potentials and bringing a more peaceful and prosperous world to everyone.”

Ms. Mohammed said there was no ‘silver bullet’ for ensuring a girl’s right to a quality education, but that the development community needs to continue to advocate for that right and hold governments accountable for delivering.

Part of the challenge of crafting an equitable new agenda is that many MDG gains have been eroded by conflict and issues such as bad planning, bad governance and lack of investment.

“These are issues that have pulled us back,” Ms. Mohammed says. “I think we need to make sure we address those in the longer term.”

Looking to the future, Ms. Mohammed says that as the development landscape changes, broader partnerships will be essential to ensuring that successful programmes go beyond pilots and benefit as many people as possible.

“The agenda is bigger. The partnerships themselves won’t be static. We’ll be going across borders using technology. So I’m excited about what civil society and young people bring to the table.”

She sees a much greater effort required on the part of the international community to meet its existing commitments to educate girls – and that includes giving mothers and women greater responsibility.

“To think that today we still have so much to do, and yet people are moving back from those commitments – not even just meeting them, but moving back from them – is unacceptable,” Ms. Mohammed says. “We need to encourage people to see that this is in their own interests. No one must be left behind in the next development agenda.”

By Rudina Vojvoda

NEW YORK, 29 April 2013 – Members of the Youth Advocacy Group (YAG) gathered last week in Washington, DC, to advise high-level policy-makers on issues around education. Over the next year, the young leaders will provide strategic advice on young people’s priorities, mobilize youth groups and act as a connector between the Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) and young people all over the world.

Podcast moderator Femi Oke caught up with Salathiel Ntakirutimana, the representative for Burundi, and Sumaya Saluja, the representative for India. The young leaders talked about their experiences, the role of education in young people’s lives and their work with YAG.

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Building a peaceful, just and more enjoyable world through education

©UNICEF/2013/Ng
UNICEF podcast moderator Femi Oke (centre) interviews Youth Advocacy Group members Salathiel Ntakirutimana from Burundi (left) and Sumaya Saluja from India (right).

For Salathiel, the most exciting and challenging part of being a YAG member is representing those youth who are the hardest the reach. “What I have been trying to do as part of this advocacy group is to see how can we make sure that those young people from rural areas are represented in this group, how can we make sure that their ideas are voiced in our head,” he said.

Born in Burundi at the outset of civil war in 1993, Salathiel lost his parents at an early age and ended up in a refugee camp in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the age of 15, he co-founded the Association of Burundian Orphans to help other young people in the same circumstances. Today, Salathiel studies mechanical engineering at Harvard University.

According to Salathiel, education plays a crucial role in avoiding conflict by empowering people to create solutions to their own problems. “Giving young people an education is ensuring that they have access to resources, or the creation of even better resources, that can meet the challenges of that time,” he said, explaining that avoiding resource-related conflicts will lead to a more sustainable, just and enjoyable world for everyone.

Consolidating the power of youth

As Programme Coordinator of the YP Foundation, a youth-led and -run organization in New Delhi, Sumaya’s expertise is on issues related to adolescent sexual reproductive health, child and maternal care, peer education and media training.

Discussing the role of young people in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the challenges ahead, Sumaya said that young people have the ability to mobilize more people on the ground and to run very innovative and effective programmes – but disconnection among youth groups and working in isolation can be an issue.

“I think that the young people do get strategies, they do get solutions,” she said. “I think they need a little bit of help consolidating all of that.”

To learn more about YAG and its members, visit: http://www.globaleducationfirst.org/669.htm

To learn more about the Global Education First Initiative, visit: http://globaleducationfirst.org/

©UNICEF/2013/Vasquez
Arch of Jupiter in Damascus, Syria.

By Carlos Vasquez

AMMAN, Jordan, 8 May 2013 – When I arrived in Jordan for my third mission to the region on April 5th, Za’atari camp had more than 100,000 refugees; five times the amount since my first visit 8 months ago in September 2012. The total number of refugees spread over 4 countries is more than 1.4 million Syrian people today (Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey). The needs are great and it’s hard to keep up. UNICEF uses a 20 per cent factor to plan for education service delivery; that is an estimate of 280,000 displaced school age children in the region. In Za’atari alone we are delivering 3.5 million litres of water every day to meet the demand of refugees.

A few days after arriving in Amman I was informed of my deployment to Syria to support the team at the country office. I flew to Beirut early morning and after a 2 hour drive I arrived in Damascus. The same day I arrived, my colleague Bart took me for a walk after work. That night I met a group of young university students in a nearby café. It was very surreal to walk along the streets with people carrying on normal daily activities with the heavy noise of shelling on the background. That feeling lasted for the next two weeks.

As I sipped my fresh brewed Turkish coffee a few days later, the man at the stall explained the history of the place where I am standing in the old city of Damascus. As he wondered about his wife and children now living in Beirut he tells me: This is the Arch of Jupiter built by the Romans. The pillars are set over Greek foundations that lead to the main mosque in the old town. The right side of the great mosque of the Umayyad, as you enter, is a Byzantine structure, and the whole complex is built over a Phoenician temple.

This is the oldest living city in the world, founded in the 3rd millennium BC, and a UNESCO world heritage site. These historical facts have little meaning in the context of a brutal armed conflict that is more than 2 years old. The old city of Aleppo has already been destroyed by mortar and live ammunition and many fear for the life of the old city here in Damascus.

©UNICEF/2013/Vasquez
Photo of Abdil in Damascus, Syria.

Thinking back to that first night, after talking to the students at the café, I realized that this is the first time that I met young people who have lost all hope for a more humane resolution that would save the lives of people and the historical heritage of their country.

“They don’t want a political solution at this stage,” a young architect told me.

“After 2 years they just want to kill each other without thinking of the consequences,” a young doctor added.

Everyone agreed that the final battle of Damascus was looming closer and closer and the destruction of the ancient city was irreversible. So far the conflict has taken the lives of more than 70,000 Syrian people.

But the biggest fight I witnessed was that of Abdil, a 2-year-old little boy living with cancer. As we were completing the inspection of the latrines, I noticed his frail eyes and soft skin. Abdil and his family live in the school that was set up as a shelter in Damascus for internally displaced persons or IDPs. Children in the shelter do not have access to a proper learning space or educational material. The sanitation and water system is on the brink of collapse increasing the chances for spread of disease.

AAs politicians and diplomats discuss a potential end to the conflict, Abdil needs chemotherapy treatments every 20 days to reduce the 4-inch tumor in his stomach. His mother told my colleague Ibrahim that at this point no one knows if he will survive. When I see his picture I am moved by the dignified way he looks at the camera, almost in defiance and a strong will to survive.

Now back in Amman, as the news reports big explosions and air strikes in Damascus today, I think of Abdil.

The session was in ‘clinic’ format – that is, audience participation and dialogue were encouraged. A large part of the discussion focused on defining innovation for education and for children and young people.

#InnovateYourFuture
The discussion was part of a day of events hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) around the theme ‘Partnering for innovative solutions for sustainable development’. Over 500 guests attended. The day was opened by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at United Nations headquarters in New York.

President of Frog design Doreen Lorenzo remarked that the technology and knowledge coming from the private sector can be powerful in helping social innovation by working with partners like UNICEF. Frog has been working with UNICEF on Project Mwana, a major initiative to improve maternal and infant health and welfare in peri-urban Malawi and rural Zambia. “We are at the very beginning of something that is incredibly exciting and can truly bring a lot of change and a lot of good,” she said.

Vice President of Industry Affairs Sven Leirvaag explained their model of a ‘partnership of four’ to utilize technology to support development. The partners include the donor, the traveller; the beneficiary, UNICEF; the travel partner, the agencies who provide the reach to customers; and the technology, the Amadeus platform. This system allows travel booking engines to collect micro-donations from travellers when they book flights, giving travellers the chance to donate money to UNICEF.

Innovative thinking and learning
UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Yoka Brandt opened the afternoon session and framed the discussion: “New technologies are already helping accelerate the education of children,” she said, “but innovation is not only just about technology – it is also about innovations in programmes.”

© UNICEF/NYHQ2013-0190/Markisz | (second-from-left) Venture capitalist and Charles River Ventures Partner Emeritus Ted Dintersmith speaks at the event. Beside him on the dais are (left-right) Girls Who Code Executive Director Kristen Titus, international journalist and moderator, Femi Oke.

Minister for Development Cooperation of Denmark H.E. Mr. Christian Friis Bach talked about the need to find innovative solutions for learning. “If you engage students in…innovative thinking, you’ll get better results and more innovative citizens,” he said. “And that’s what we should strive for. Quality learning and quality education for all has to be part of our future goal setting and, there, innovation is needed.”

UNICEF Associate Director of Programmes and Chief of Education Josephine Bourne explained that it was important to keep sight of learning objectives when investing in new technology and ideas in education. Technology, in itself, may not be the best solution for children to learn. “What is it that you want to achieve?” she asked. “Will this work? Will this actually create improvement in learning achievement?”

Technology for every girl and boy
As an example of technological innovation, UNICEF Uganda Representative Dr. Sharad Sapra presented Digital-School-In-A-Box, a device that could help bring learning materials and Internet access to remote areas around the world. Dr. Sapra also emphasized that innovative approaches to education that promote learning are even more important: “I want to see that, every moment that this child is in school or is in the community, there is an opportunity so they can learn…[it’s] not just about an education system that operates in a school, we are talking about a learning environment.”

© UNICEF/NYHQ2013-0186/Markisz | UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Yoka Brandt speaks at the event. Beside her are (left-right) UNICEF Representative in Uganda Sharad Sapra, Ms. Titus, Ms. Oke, Ms. Bourne and H.E. Mr. Friis Bach.

Venture capitalist Ted Dintersmith talked about entrepreneurship and innovation in education. “In the last two years,” he said, “you’ve seen this emergence of the most capable, most motivated, most exceptional entrepreneurs to change the face of education.” He highlighted the popularity of Khan Academy, a website that offers video lessons on a wide range of topics for students of all ages. According to Mr. Dintersmith, approximately six million students a month access content from Khan Academy.

Executive Director of Girls Who Code Kristen Titus emphasized the importance of technology as a necessity for basic work skills and for the empowerment of girls. “Seventy per cent of students in New York City reported they have zero hours of training in computers…0.3 per cent of girls express any interest in in studying technology or science education,” she said. Through Girls Who Code, young women are being taught how to build websites, mobile applications and more.

UNICEF: Innovation for all
The work and ideas discussed reinforce the principles behind UNICEF’s innovation work: A commitment to open-source engagements, determination to learn from failure and realization that local talent must be front and centre in creating successful local solutions have positioned UNICEF as a global leader in innovation for development. Panellists and participants showed their support and commitment to achieving the best results for children and for the world, no matter where they live or who they are.

“I encourage all of us to be bold,” said Ms. Brandt. “Let us work together and let us settle not for incremental improvements that reach the lucky few.”

Watch the discussion

European Union Flag

Islamabad/Brussels, 8 May 2013 – The European Union has provided € 300,000 from its Nobel Peace Prize money to UNICEF to support its educational activities for children affected by a lack of security in parts of northwestern Pakistan. The agreement was formalised today in Islamabad, between Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to Pakistan and Dan Rohrmann, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan.

These funds, made available through the European Commission’s Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO), will enable UNICEF to provide access to education for 3,000 children, including 1,500 girls in 30 schools currently operating in the Jalozai Camp, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Children are extremely vulnerable to conflicts and their education is often suffering,” said Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, Head of the European Union Delegation to Pakistan. “They risk carrying the burden of conflict throughout their lives. It is fitting that the Nobel Peace Prize funds benefit those who carry the hope for the future.”

UNICEF has been providing educational support to children in Jalozai Camp since 2008. The education package includes school-in-a-box supplies, training for teachers, education for peace training and psychosocial counseling that will help children cope with traumatic experiences.

“UNICEF Pakistan wishes to congratulate the EU for being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and is honoured to receive support for providing education to children affected by displacement and deprived of their fundamental right to quality education,” said Dan Rohrmann, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan.

“These funds will provide an opportunity for children to reconnect with a safe learning environment that not only provides quality education but also gives some sense of normalcy to the many children that find themselves away from their normal social network and known environment.”

In camp schools, these children not only receive education but also benefit from other basic services such as health, water, sanitation, hygiene, nutrition and protection interventions which ensure holistic childhood development.

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About UNICEF
UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: http://www.unicef.org

About European Union
The European Union (EU) is a unique economic, social and political community and partnership between 27 European countries covering much of the European continent. The EU is based on the rule of law: everything that it does is founded on treaties and agreements, voluntarily and democratically agreed by all Member States. These binding agreements set out the EU’s goals in its many areas of activity, including trade, development cooperation, and foreign and security policy. One of the EU’s main goals is to promote human rights both internally and around the world. The European Union is the world’s biggest donor of humanitarian aid, providing more than 50% of humanitarian aid worldwide.

About European Commission’s Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO)
The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) funds relief operations for victims of natural disasters and conflicts outside the European Union. Aid is channelled impartially, straight to victims, regardless of their race, ethnic group, religion, gender, age, nationality or political affiliation. ECHO is among UNICEF’s largest humanitarian donors. In 2012 alone, it provided over 70 million Euros for UNICEF’s projects worldwide to support children.

For further information, please contact:

Ayesha Babar, Press and Public Relations Officer, European Union Delegation to Pakistan
Phone: +92 51 227 1828
Email: ayesha.babar@eeas.europa.eu
Website: http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/pakistan

A. Sami Malik, Communication Specialist, UNICEF Pakistan Country Office
Phone: 92 300 855 6654
Email: asmalik@unicef.org
Website: www.unicef.org/pakistan

Earlier this month, UNICEF attended a UNESCO-INEE organized symposium on Conflict-Sensitive Education – Why and How? in Paris with Ministers of Education from around the world. Conflict-Sensitive Education is a key component of UNICEF’s new four-year programme on Peacebuilding, Education and Advocacy, supported by the Government of the Netherlands. The “Learning for Peace” programme explores innovative ways to build sustainable peace through education in 14 countries around the world.

Ministers of Education from programme countries including Chad, Liberia and Uganda, as well as the Deputy Minister of Education from Sierra Leone and government representatives from the Democratic Republic of Congo joined the day-long discussion, highlighting gaps in funding and considering best practices to integrate conflict sensitive tools into education policies and programmes. For more on the symposium see the below webstory from our partners UNESCO and INEE. For more information on the PBEA programme visit: www.educationandtransition.org/pbea.

©UNHCR / H. Caux
Children from the Central African Republic, who were displaced by an attack on their village, attend class at a bush school near the Chadian border.

The challenges of providing quality education in conflict areas

Conflict-affected countries called for better strategies to ensure that conflict-prevention is integrated into education policies and programmes and that education is not overlooked by donors and humanitarians.

UNESCO recently welcomed Ministers of Education from Chad, Liberia, Mali, Palestine, and Uganda, as well as the Deputy Minister of Education from Sierra Leone and government representatives from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya, to talk about their experiences of providing quality education during and after a conflict. Together with numerous ambassadors and representatives from the Permanent Delegations to UNESCO, UN agencies, bilateral organizations, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, academia and civil society organizations, they participated in the symposium Conflict-Sensitive Education – Why and How?, supported by Comic Relief, the European Commission, UNICEF, and USAID.

Co-organized by UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) and the International Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) and its Working Group on Education and Fragility, the event offered concrete ideas to promote the implementation of conflict-sensitive education. Keynote speakers Carol Bellamy, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Partnership for Education, and Qian Tang, Assistant Director General for Education of UNESCO, drew attention to the funding gap on education in the humanitarian field and the insufficient recognition given to education in post-crisis recovery. The international community, they said, is focused on access without looking at the broader and deeper needs of the education sector, in particular the impact of conflict on education and the role that it can play in the mitigation and prevention of violence. They called upon the humanitarian and development sectors to collaborate more effectively for the sake of increasing the quality of educational investment in post-crisis settings.

©IIEP
From Left to right: Ministers of Education from Palestine, Liberia and Mali, and Khalil Mahshi, Director of IIEP.

Minister Lamis Alami from Palestine highlighted the importance of harmonizing donor funding in order to implement successful quality education programmes. Minister Etmonia Tarpeh from Liberia emphasized the negative impacts of conflict on the learning process of the child, “in the midst of conflict there is absolutely no psychological balance in the teaching/learning process. The environment becomes unconducive; some children are introduced to violence and anti-social practices, while some of them involuntarily assume tendencies of early adulthood”. Following the outbreak of conflict in Mali, the provision of education became problematic; Minister Bocar Moussa Diarra explained how the subsequent suspension of aid from international donors impacted the education system, and he highlighted some of the possible risks, such as the difficulty to recruit the necessary teachers to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and children dropping out as a result of a lack of food and school materials.

During the symposium, INEE launched its Conflict Sensitive Education Pack, composed of the “Guiding Principles for Integrating Conflict Sensitivity in Education Policy and Programming in Conflict-Affected and Fragile Contexts”, a Guidance Note that provides examples and a list of resources to implement conflict-sensitive programmes, and a Reflection Tool to support the design, implementation, and evaluation of education programmes. The pack articulates strategies to ensure that conflict-prevention is integrated into education policies and programmes so as to prevent the development of new conflicts in the future.

At the end of the symposium, participants endorsed a declaration expressing their shared commitment to ensure that education in conflict-affected contexts supports stabilization, peace-building processes, and the prevention of violence. The Declaration encourages participants to implement and disseminate the INEE Guiding Principles on Integrating Conflict Sensitivity in Education Policies and Programs and other tools.

A report of the symposium will be shared soon and be available on the INEE website.

The symposium was followed by a narrative concert by Peter Yarrow, best known as part of the 1960s folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary. Peter Yarrow shared the work his foundation, Operation Respect, is doing to help develop empathy and solidarity among young people around the world for the prevention of violence.

LINKS:

• IIEP Newsletter on Crisis-sensitive educational planning