International Day to Protect Education from Attack

Every student and teacher should feel safe at school. But for millions, that's not a reality.

UNESCO, reports 6,000 attacks on students, educators, and schools in 2022-2023, with 1,000 involving military use. This marks a 20% increase from the previous two years, affecting over 10,000 victims.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for an end to the vicious circle of bloodshed, hatred & polarization in the Middle East.

According to a comprehensive report on children and armed conflicts published by the UN chief earlier this year, from January to December 2022, there was a 112 per cent rise in attacks targeting schools and hospitals, with hotspots identified in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Burkina Faso, Israel, Palestine, Myanmar and Mali. 

In Afghanistan, for example, the UN verified a total of 95 attacks on civilian targets, including 72 on schools. 

The report attributed 50 per cent of grave violations to non-State armed groups. The other half involved government forces, who were primarily responsible for the gravest offenses, including the killing and maiming of children, relentless assaults on schools and hospitals, and obstructing humanitarian access.

With a staggering hike in attacks targeting schools and hospitals, and over seven million refugee children out of school, the United Nations chief called on Saturday for a new push to defend vulnerable students and teachers worldwide.

Marking the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said it was important to defend “havens of education”.

“Education is not only a fundamental human right, but a pathway to a better future for every person, and a more peaceful, understanding world,” he underscored. 

As put by Mr. Guterres, “attacks on students, teachers, educational personnel and schools are becoming all too common, cruelly disrupting young learners’ education and inflicting untold psychological and physical damage that can last a lifetime.”

The Secretary-General urged all countries to ensure the protection of schools, children and teachers at all times, through measures such as the Safe Schools Declaration and the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack.

Violations of international law regarding children and armed conflict continued to have a “devastating impact”, the UN’s top official on the issue said on Tuesday, with a 112 per cent rise in the number of attacks on schools and hospitals.

Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba unveiled the Secretary-General’s latest annual report, for 2022, which showed there were 27,180 grave violations overall, an increase from the previous year.

The recorded violations only refer to verified information, with the likely toll much higher, and cover four categories: recruitment and use of children into armed groups or forces, killing and maiming, rape and sexual violence, and abduction.

The Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Ms. Gamba told journalists at a press conference in New York that the countries recording the highest number of violations were the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Israel, the State of Palestine, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Yemen.

“The monitoring and verification of grave violations remained extremely challenging, including owing to access constraints leading to the underreporting of such violations and an increase in violations verified in 2022,” according to the report.

There were 1,163 attacks on schools recorded, and 647 attacks on hospitals – a 112 per cent increase, the report said. 

The widespread military use of schools both by armed forces and armed groups, is a “very worrisome trend”, said Ms. Gamba, calling for them to remain “zones of peace”. 

The Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict  said that Russian forces and affiliated armed groups in Ukraine were being added to the annex of the report as a notable offender, for the number of attacks on hospitals and schools carried out during the invasion and the killing of children during military operations.

Russia’s use of rocket systems, airstrikes, and shelling of populated areas had resulted in “very high casualties”, she said, adding that her engagement with Moscow to introduce measures to decrease attacks would continue.

She said that the Ukrainian armed forces had also received a warning from the United Nations Secretary-General through the report owing to attacks carried out on schools and hospitals during the war.

The Special Representative said Israel and the State of Palestine would not be added to global list of offenders, emphasizing that a warning not to repeat the urban assault on Gaza in May 2021 and retaliatory missile launches had been heeded sufficiently.

She said there had been an “important decrease” in Israeli airstrikes during 2022, noting that the whole purpose of publishing the report and highlighting violence was to change behaviour and strengthen protection.

However, she raised concerns over the continuing high level of violence in the West Bank and other occupied territories so far this year.

Among those added to the offenders’ list are armed groups in the DRC including M23, Mai-Mai Zaire, and CODECO. Two non-State actors in Burkina Faso were also added.

Ms. Gamba also highlighted the addition of Myanmar’s military rulers, listed for attacks on schools and hospitals, saying “they sit with five violations”.

In addition, she said two situations – in Haiti and

Education is a fundamental human right and “an essential driver for achieving peace and sustainable development”, Secretary-General António Guterres underscored on the International Day to Protect Education from attack.

“Unfortunately, this right continues to fall under attack, especially in conflict-affected areas,” he said in a statement commemorating the day.

Attacks must stop ‘immediately’

In 2020 and 2021, the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack reported over 5,000 assaults and cases of military use of schools and universities.

And more than 9,000 students and educators were killed, abducted, arbitrarily arrested, or injured, the majority of whom were women and girls.

“These attacks deprive millions of vulnerable learners from accessing education and increase the risk of sexual violence and child recruitment by armed groups. They must stop immediately,” continued the UN chief.

Unite for safe education

Mr. Guterres welcomed steps taken by many countries to protect educational institutions and urged “all Member States to endorse and implement the Safe Schools Declaration”.

“International Law and International Humanitarian Law obligations must be respected. We must pursue monitoring, investigate all attacks and hold perpetrators to account,” spelled out the top UN official.

In marking the international day and in the lead up to the Transforming Education Summit, which will be convened at UN Headquarters in New York from16 to 19 September, he encouraged everyone to “act together to guarantee safe education for all”.

Startling facts

Attacks on education and military use of schools increased by one-third in 2020 compared to 2019, and maintained the same rate in 2021.

Six attacks on education or incidents of military use occurred each day.

Explosive weapons were used in around one-fifth of all reported attacks on education during the reporting period.

Raising awareness

The General Assembly unanimously established the day, calling on the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to raise awareness of the plight of millions of children living in countries affected by conflict.

By its resolution, the Assembly affirmed that Governments have the primary responsibility to provide protection and ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels to all learners, especially those in vulnerable situations.

They also emphasized the need to intensify efforts and increase funding to promote safe and protective school environments in humanitarian emergencies by taking all feasible measures to protect schools, learners and educational personnel from attack, refrain from actions that impede children’s access to education, and facilitate access to education in situations of armed conflict.

The bell is ringing for the start of a new school year in many countries, but inequalities in access to education are keeping some 244 million children out of the classroom, according to data published by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the most children out of school, 98 million, and it is also the only region where this number is increasing. 

Significant progress was made on protecting education from attack during the reporting period, including states’ efforts to implement the commitments of the Safe Schools Declaration, a political commitment to protect education during armed conflict.

During this reporting period, GCPEA observed a growing awareness of the widespread prevalence of attacks on education, as well as sustained political action to end attacks, donor support to address key issues, and important legal developments at national and international levels. In particular, the implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration expanded during the 2020-2021 reporting period. The Safe Schools Declaration is an inter-governmental political commitment, championed by Argentina and Norway, that allows countries to express political support for the protection of students, teachers, schools, and universities during times of armed conflict. As of February 2022, 113 countries had endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration since its launch in May 2015. Since the publication of Education under Attack 2020, nine countries endorsed the declaration: Algeria, Ghana, Maldives, Mexico, Namibia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Timor-Leste, Togo, and Senegal. Countries that endorse the Declaration commit to protect education from attack and prevent military use of schools and universities through implementing its six commitments.

These include: using the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict to protect educational institutions, students, and personnel; facilitating the collection of, or collecting, data on attacks; investigating allegations of violations; providing assistance to victims; implementing conflict-sensitive approaches to education; ensuring continuity of education during conflict; supporting UN work on the children and armed conflict agenda; and meeting regularly to review the implementation of the Declaration and its Guidelines.

The Declaration received increased attention by multilateral bodies since the publication of Education under Attack 2020. Notably, the United Nations General Assembly declared September 9 as the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, mentioning the Declaration, and adopted a resolution on the right to safe education for all. The resolution was introduced by the State of Qatar and co-sponsored by 62 states. Both in 2020 and 2021, the International Day was commemorated by a high-level event bringing together global leaders on education, peace, and conflict, including the Secretary General of the United Nations. In September 2020, The UN Security Council issued a milestone Presidential Statement solely focused on attacks on education. Following this statement, , on October 29, 2021, the UN Security Council adopted a stand-alone resolution on attacks on education, with Niger and Norway as penholders, and 99 co-sponsors. Furthermore, at the 47th session of the Human Rights Council, in July 2021, the Council adopted a resolution on the right to education, which referenced the Safe Schools Declaration and the Guidelines for the first time, and called on states to consider implementing them. States, non-state actors, multilateral organizations, and non-governmental organizations took important steps towards protecting education and fulfilling different commitments of the Declaration in 2020 and 2021, examples of which are shared below. Using the Guidelines to Protect Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict.

In 2020 and 2021, some states, international and regional bodies, and non-state armed groups took concrete steps to prevent and reduce the military use of schools.