Tuesday, 10 September 2024 marked the commemoration the Fifth United Nations International Day to Protect Education from Attack in Geneva. The right to safe, inclusive and quality education is fundamental, and is a stepping stone to other human rights. Yet, around the world, children and young people living in conflict situations experience violence in unbearable levels, including through attacks on education, and military use of schools and learning institutions. In 2022 and 2023 alone, over 10,000 students and educators were killed, injured, abducted, arrested, or otherwise harmed by attacks on education.
A high-level event was held at the United Nations in Geneva to recognise the occasion, co-organised by the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations in Geneva, Education Above All (EAA), and the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), and co-sponsored by the Core Group on the Safe Schools Declaration, the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies, Save the Children, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Geneva Call.
This event explored the importance of mobilising domestic implementation of international law and the Safe Schools Declaration – an international political commitment to protect education in conflict, which has been endorsed by 120 states since its launch in 2015 – for the protection of education, particularly from the gravest forms of attack. Speakers highlighted the scope of attacks on education conducted by armed forces and non-state armed groups, and presented new findings on compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
The urgency of this mobilisation is underscored by the most recent analysis of attacks on education from GCPEA, which found that attacks on education and military use increased by nearly 20 percent in 2022 and 2023 compared to the two previous years. In particular, girls and women were reportedly targeted in attacks on education in at least ten countries. Students with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students, and students from Indigenous and ethnic minority communities, also faced greater vulnerabilities and were uniquely impacted by attacks on education.
“In the Sahel, over 9000 schools are occupied by armed groups,” said Alain Délétroz, Director-General of Geneva Call, underscoring the human impact of attacks on education. “Non-state armed groups should protect education from attack by signing and implementing the Guidelines for Protecting Schools & Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict and Geneva Call’s Deed of Commitment for the Protection of Children from the Effects of Armed Conflict.”
Speakers emphasised the lifesaving nature of education and its potential for peace, hope and stability. “In emergencies, allowing a child to come back to learning is critical,” said Hazel de Wet, Deputy Director, Office of Emergency programmes, UNICEF.
Pierre Krähenbühl, Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross, shared ICRC’s perspective and efforts on the protection of education through the lens of the organisations’ role as guardian of IHL. He shared that education features extremely high on the list of priorities of families impacted by conflict. He also expressed ICRC’s support for the Safe Schools Declaration and the Guidelines for Protecting Schools & Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict.
“It’s every day that we have to remind ourselves the right to education is a universal fundamental right, and a key enabler of other human rights,” said Min Jeong Kim, Director of Education 2030 Division, UNESCO. “We all have a role to play in the six years left until the 2030 agenda comes to an end. It’s time to translate commitments into action.”
Nada Al Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR, called on Member States, as well as international and national mechanisms, to take concrete measures to strengthen monitoring, investigation, accountability and redress for attacks on education. And before the event came to an end, Ilaria Paolazzi, Senior Advocacy and Policy Adviser, GCPEA, welcomed the strong calls to urgently reverse the trend of increasing attacks on education through cross-sectoral partnerships – in particular in the areas of prevention of, and accountability for, attacks – as well as the expressions of support and calls to endorse and implement the Safe Schools Declaration.
Following the event, guests were welcomed to a photo exhibition organized by Education Above All and the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, showcasing the impact of attacks on education. H.E. Mrs. Hend Abdalrahman Al-Muftah, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and Permanent Representative, of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar introduced the reception, along with the launch of a comic book developed by Geneva Call on protecting education in conflict. The exhibition will be on display at the UN exhibition gallery for the duration of the Human Rights Council session.
