Protecting education from attack

Every child and young person has the right to education. Yet in conflict zones around the world, schools and universities are under attack.

Every day students and educators are killed, raped, and abducted, while schools and universities are occupied, bombed, and destroyed.

To prevent and end attacks on education and the military use of schools and universities all states are encouraged to endorse and implement the Safe Schools Declaration - an inter-governmental political commitment to protect students, teachers, schools and universities from the worse effects of armed conflict.

In endorsing the Declaration, countries commit to take measures to strengthen the protection of education from attack, restrict the use of education facilities for military purposes, and ensure the continuity of safe education during armed conflict.

Members of parliament have a critical role to encourage their government to safeguard education from attack through endorsement and implementation of the Declaration.

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The Safe Schools Conference

On October 25 - 27, Nigeria will host the Fourth International Conference on the Safe Schools Declaration, in collaboration with the African Union, Argentina, Norway, Spain, and the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA). The Conference will take place in Abuja and virtually.

The Safe Schools Conference will provide a key opportunity to share good practices in keeping education safe during armed conflict, and moving from commitment to practice, the theme of the Conference.

The Conference will also provide an opportunity for more countries to announce their endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration and commit to safeguarding education, joining 111 countries who have so far endorsed the Declaration.

International Day to Protect Education from Attack

To mark the International Day to Protect Education from Attack on September 9, 2021, the International Parliamentary Network for Education, with support from the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, issued a briefing for members of parliament on actions they can take to better safeguard education from attack.

The briefing includes a range of concrete measures parliamentarians can take to encourage their government to sign the Safe Schools Declaration and strengthen its implementation.