UNICEF alarmed by continued attacks on education in conflict zones in Africa

NAIROBI/DAKAR, 9 September 2024 – Millions of children across Africa still lack access to schooling due to ongoing conflicts across the continent, UNICEF warns.  

As the world celebrates today the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, an alarming number of schools remains closed, destroyed or occupied by conflict parties, in what is the 2024 African Union Year of Education.  The Safe Schools Declaration was launched in Oslo in 2015 as an inter-governmental political agreement aimed at protecting children’s right to education in armed conflicts.

However, since then, over 2,500 attacks on schools in Africa have been verified by the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on Grave Violations against children, an UN-led initiative established by the UN Security Council in 2005. The number represents 38 per cent of such verified attacks on schools globally. The most affected countries during this period include Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali and Somalia.

“Schools and children must never be targeted in conflict. Attacks on schools not only violate children's fundamental right to education but also disrupt families and threaten the long-term development and stability of entire nations,” said UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Gilles Fagninou. “Schools should remain a safe haven.”

In West and Central Africa alone, more than 14,000 schools are closed mainly due to conflict, affecting 2.8 million children. In areas where schools are closed, occupied, or destroyed, children become more vulnerable to violence and exploitation, including recruitment and use by parties to conflict. For women and girls, the risk of gender-based violence, including sexual abuse and exploitation, increases, often resulting in child marriage and/or early pregnancy which impacts their entire life.

“Despite international efforts to protect access to education in conflict zones, schools have been entered and put in danger by armed forces and groups, used as bases, and even contaminated by explosive devices,” said UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Etleva Kadilli. “Without access to quality learning opportunities, children living in conflict will grow up without the skills they need to contribute to their countries’ futures. Amid the chaos of war, safe spaces to learn are also vital for children to have some normality, routine and stability in their lives.”

In conflict-affected areas, UNICEF collaborates with partners and communities on the following strategies:

• Ensuring that education remains accessible by advocating for the complete evacuation of armed forces and armed groups from schools;
• Clearing any traces of militarization including unexploded ordnance and working with school authorities and communities to ensure children can safely return to school;
• Providing psychosocial and socio-emotional learning support to affected children and their teachers; and,
• Establishing emergency response plans to protect schools, their personnel and children from future attacks.

Along with other United Nations agencies, UNICEF monitors attacks on schools through the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism, and advocates with all parties to conflict for schools to be protected and to remain open to provide a safe place for children.

UNICEF calls on all African states to endorse and implement the Safe School Declaration and prevail in their efforts to ensure that children in conflict zones can access safe education opportunities. Thirty-three countries in Africa have endorsed the declaration, and 120 globally.

Governments and donors are also called on to commit to multi-year, flexible funding to support education in emergencies and create linkages to longer-term education programming to build inclusive, multi-crisis resilient education systems.

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To find out more about the Safe Schools Declaration, visit: https://ssd.protectingeducation.org/