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Education

Education is a fundamental human right: Every child is entitled to it. It is critical to our development as individuals and as societies, and it helps pave the way to a successful and productive future. When we ensure that children have access to a rights-based, quality education that is rooted in gender equality, we create a ripple effect of opportunity that impacts generations to come. A young man crosses a rubble-strewn street in Leogane, Haiti, following the earthquake in January 2010. © 2010 Joost Butenop, Courtesy of Photoshare

According to UNHCR, Education in emergencies, and during chronic crises and early reconstruction efforts, can be both life-saving and life-sustaining. It can save lives by protecting against exploitation and harm and by disseminating key survival messages, on issues such as landmine safety or HIV/AIDS prevention. It sustains life by offering structure, stability and hope for the future during a time of crisis, particularly for children and adolescents. Education in emergencies also helps to heal the pain of bad experiences, build skills, and support conflict resolution and peace building.

You many also be interested in resources in the Child Health and Rights section on the Healthcare Tab.

School-in-a-Box

No Date | The United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF]

UNICEF Supply Division has identified supplies to increase access to education. A Technical Assistant describes the School-in-a-Box kit, which supports a classroom of 80 students in any setting.

Children and Young People’s Voices in Haiti’s Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA)

2010 | Plan International | 32 p

English

Plan International, in partnership with UNICEF, initiated a consultation process with close to 1,000 children and youth throughout Haiti, to hear their ideas and priorities for the country’s reconstruction. Their views were gathered with the purpose of feeding into the PDNA. Local facilitators experienced in working with children and youth conducted 54 focus group consultations in nine departments (West, Artibonite, South-East, North, Grande Anse, Nippes, North-West and North-East, and the South).

Alternative Education: Filling the Gap in Emergency and Post-Conflict Situations

2009 | UNESCO

Children and youth have a wide range of educational needs in emergency situations, especially when affected by conflict. They may have missed part or all of their primary education or have had their education disrupted. They require specific skills to help them deal with the world they now live in. Older children may want to access education but may not be able or willing to attend primary school with younger children.

Certification Counts: Recognizing the Learning Attainments of Displaced and Refugee Students

2009 | UNESCO

Uninterrupted access to quality education is critical for children and youth displaced by natural and man-made disasters and is now increasingly recognized by humanitarian and development actors, including donors.

Child-Friendly Schools Manual

2009 | The United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF]

Child-Friendly Schools Manual (English) |

Manuel « Écoles amies des enfant » (French) |

Manual "Escuelas amigas de la infancia" (Spanish)

In the course of UNICEF’s work during the past decade, the child-friendly school (CFS) model has emerged as the organization’s signature means to advocate for and promote quality education for every girl and boy. The model can be viewed as a package solution and a holistic instrument for pulling together a comprehensive range of interventions in quality education. As the main proponent of this model, UNICEF has developed the manual as a reference document and practical guidebook to help countries implement CFS.

Opportunities for Change: Education Innovation and Reform During and After Conflict

2009 | UNESCO

War and conflict have a considerable negative impact on the education sector. However, even as education systems are damaged or destroyed by violence, multiple opportunities emerge for positive innovation and reform. This book describes efforts of education authorities – and the agencies assisting them – as they take advantage of the opportunities for change that emerge out of periods of conflict and early recovery.

Rapid Response: Programming for Education Needs in Emergencies

2009 | UNESCO

Why do United Nations agencies and international non-governmental organizations repeatedly use the same initiatives for children in responding to educational needs in a time of crisis? Is it because school feeding, education kits, and child-friendly spaces have been proven to provide the best responses for children in these circumstances, or because communities request these particular responses? Or is the regular use of these initiatives driven by the organizations themselves, by their structures, advocacy or fundraising needs?

Realising Children's Rights to Education

2009 | Plan

In March 2009, Plan commissioned a study into children's right to education from the University of Bristol. The study focused on a comparative analysis of 5 international NGOs and their education policy positions and strategies. The study recommends that international NGOs must consider following multiple rights-based approaches, and a 'rights for' agenda. The study has provided critical insights for the development of Plan's new education framework, which is currently being developed.

Education in Haiti, The Way Forward

2008 | Partnership for Educational Revitalization in the Americas [PREAL] | 28 p

English

Paying the price: The economic cost of failing to educate girls

2008 | Plan

Paying the Price: The economic cost of failing to educate girls (English) |

Le prix à payer: Le coût économique de la non scolarisation des filles (French) |

Pagando el precio El costo económico de fallar en la educación para niñas (Spanish)

This report presents a new analysis of the economic cost of failing to educate girls. Based on World Bank research and economic data and UNESCO education statistics, it estimates the economic cost to 65 low and middle income and transitional countries of failing to educate girls to the same standard as boys as a staggering US$92 billion each year. This is just less than the US$103 billion annual overseas development aid budget of the developed world.

A Human Rights-Based Approach to Education for All

2007 | The United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF]

A Human Rights-Based Approach to Education for All (English) |

Une approche fondée sur les droits de l'homme pour l'éducation pour tous (French) |

Un enfoque de la educación para todos basado en los derechos humanos (Spanish)

The goal of a human rights-based approach to education is simple: to assure every child a quality education that respects and promotes her or his right to dignity and optimum development. Achieving this goal is, however, enormously more complex.

Safe Schools and Learning Environment: How to Prevent and Respond to Violence in Refugee Schools - A Guide

2007 | The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR]

School is not always a safe place for a refugee child; quite often, it is at school that he or she is abused or exploited. The nature of violence inflicted on children in learning environments can be emotional, physical and psychological, and range from the subtle to the very explicit. All too frequently it is sexual and gender-based.

Guidebook for Planning Education in Emergencies and Reconstruction

2006 | UNESCO

This comprehensive guidebook will help educational planners during emergencies and reconstruction. The "Guidebook for Planning Education in Emergencies and Reconstruction" presents examples of the problems faced in emergencies, and suggests policy options and strategies that have been found useful in such situations.

Adolescent and Youth Education in Emergencies

2005 | Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children

Young People's Livelihood, Reproductive Health for Young People, HIV/AIDS and Young People, Gender-Based Violence Against Young People, Adolescent-Headed Households, Separated Adolescents, Adolescents and Youth-Friendly Spaces, Young People's Participation,

Learning About Learning

2005 | Plan

A Plan Nederlands report highlighting the issues involved with measuring the effectiveness of primary school programs, as well as the successes and lessons learnt from the programs themselves. Topics include child-friendly teaching practices, community involvement and governance, and accountability.

Reshaping the Future: Education and Postconflict Reconstruction

2005 | The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ THE WORLD BANK

The relationship between education systems and conflict presents policymakers with a conundrum. Schools are almost always complicit in conflict. They reproduce the skills, values, attitudes, and social relations of dominant groups in society; accordingly, they are usually a contributory factor in conflict. Simultaneously reconstructing and reforming education is increasingly viewed as a critical element in the strategy to reduce the risk of conflict or relapse into conflict.

Co-ordinating Education During Emergencies and Reconstruction: Challenges and Responsibilities

2004 | UNESCO

While co-ordination is essentially a method of getting institutions to work together, it is clearly not synonymous with togetherness. Undercurrents of suspicion and distrust between individuals and institutional actors can affect important relationships and give rise to enduring misunderstandings and perplexing challenges. Turf battles involving huge international institutions are a real life illustration of the African adage: "When elephants fight, the grass suffers".

Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction

2004 | The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR]

The Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies (MSEE) are both a handbook and an expression of commitment, developed through a broad process of collaboration, that all individuals – children, youth and adults – have a right to education during emergencies. They echo the core beliefs of the Sphere Project: that all possible steps should be taken to alleviate human suffering arising out of calamity and conflict, and that people affected by disaster have a right to life with dignity.

Strategies for Girls' Education

2004 | The United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF]

Strategies for Girls' Education (English) |

Stratégies pour l'éducation des filles (French)

Millions of young girls never attend school. Millions more never complete their education. As they grow, they are unable to participate fully in the political, social and economic development of their communities. They and their children are at greater risk of HIV/AIDS, sexual exploitation, violence and abuse. This publication, reprinted from The State of the World's Children 2004, describes key strategies that can be used to ensure that more girls attend and complete school, while providing examples of successes in several countries.

The school improvement program

2004 | Plan

This two-page report summarises Plan's work towards accountable and quality schools, and reports on the background and core elements of the school improvement program (SIP).

Education: Field Guidelines

2003 | The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR]

Education is a basic human right. For refugees it is a key to sustainable protection and the hope for a better future. Refugee parents and children consider education of paramount importance. UNHCR must give education a very high priority at all levels of its operations.

Planning Education in and After Emergencies

2002 | UNESCO

A debate in the milieu of educational planning is how and why education should be adapted in situations of emergency and to what extent it should be considered a high priority issue. In this booklet, the author emphasizes the important role of education in instilling social and ethical values in the minds of youth, and in teaching appropriate behaviour when reacting to natural disasters. She argues that although education cannot solve current problems within a country, it can help change people's attitudes, and thus prevent future conflicts.

Learning for a Future: Refugee Education in Developing Countries - Chapter 1: Education in Emergencies

2001 | The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR]

This paper reviews the rationale for education in situations of emergency and crisis, and the basic principles for emergency education. It examines how these principles were reflected in some recent emergencies. The intense 1990s debate on education kits is revisited. A final section examines the implications of the study for preparedness and cooperation.

Refugee Children: Guidelines on Protection and Care

1994 | The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR]

This book was written with several groups in mind. It is primarily for UNHCR's staff, but it is also for the staff of its operational partners, whether they be voluntary organizations, UN agencies or Governments. Each chapter takes a subject, such as Legal Status or Psychosocial Well-being, and discusses it from the point of view of children's needs and rights. Generalists working in the field will be able to gain an overview of a subject as well as guidance for addressing specific problems.