Release of Education under Attack 2022 report in Geneva

16 June, 2022

The Geneva release of the 2022 report on Education under Attack 2022 took place on 16 June 2022 at the CICG.

Co-organisers: The Permanent Missions of Argentina, Nigeria, Norway and Spain to the United Nations in Geneva, Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies, and Save the Children

Co-sponsors: Core Group of States on the Safe Schools Declaration[1], the Global Education Cluster, the Global Protection Cluster

Education under Attack is the flagship publication of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA). It surveys attacks on education globally and tracks six forms of violence in the education context[2]. The 2022 edition documents attacks on schools, universities, their students and staff, and military use of schools and universities from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021, and highlights the impact of these attacks, as well as positive developments in protecting education in armed conflict during this period.

The 2022 edition is the sixth in a series of publications examining the threat of, or actual use of, force against students, teachers, academics, other education personnel, or educational facilities and materials, as well as the military use of schools and universities. This edition builds on two studies published by UNESCO in 2007 and 2010, and three studies published by GCPEA in 2014, 2018, and 2020. The report profiles 28 conflict-affected countries with a systematic pattern of attacks on education and military use of educational facilities. In addition to the countries profiled in the report, GCPEA identified sporadic reports of attacks on education in over 45 other countries. The report examines trends in attacks on education related to Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021, as well as the gendered impacts of attacks on education. It also analyses the effects of explosive weapons use on schools and universities, which occurred in at least 25 countries in 2020 and the first half of 2021.

The event underscored the extent and impact of targeted and indiscriminate violence against students, educators, and their schools and universities in conflict settings, present the report’s key findings and identify how the Safe Schools Declaration is contributing to preventing this violence and mitigating its effects.  To date, 114 states have joined the Declaration – an intergovernmental political commitment to protect education during armed conflict. The Declaration is an important tool that saves the lives of civilians, preserves the civilian character of educational facilities, and protects education from attack more generally.

Note that the official worldwide launch of the report took place on 1 June 2022 through a High-Level virtual event. This online meeting was open to the public.

[1] Members of the Core Group: Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Ecuador, Guatemala, Iraq, Italy, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Palestine, Portugal, Qatar, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Vietnam

[2] Attacks on schools; attacks on students, teachers, and other education personnel; military use of schools and universities; child recruitment at, or on the way to or from, school; sexual violence perpetrated by armed groups at, or on the way to or from, school or university; and attacks on higher education.