At the Jomtien Conference ten years ago, the participants recalled that ‘education is a fundamental right for all people, women and men, of all ages, throughout our world’ and noted that education can help ensure a ‘safer, healthier, more prosperous and environmentally sound world’. For the first time, policy-makers and representatives of the world of education and civil society agreed on a world strategy to promote universal basic education for children, and to reduce massive illiteracy rates among young people and adults especially women.

The tone was optimistic and there was little mention of education in emergencies, -just a reference in Article 3 of the Declaration to removing educational disparities for underserved groups including ‘refugees; those displaced by war; and people under occupation’. The Jomtien Framework for Action again devoted only three sentences to education for emergency-affected populations. Under the heading of ‘Education programmes for refugees’, it emphasised the need for ‘more substantial and reliable long-term financial support for this recognised international responsibility’ to organisations such as UNHCR and UNRWA, and refugee-hosting countries. The third sentence covered the broader scenario of persons affected by conflict or other disasters. ‘The world community will also endeavour to ensure that people under occupation or displaced by war and other calamities continue to have access to basic education programmes that preserve their cultural identity’.

‘War and other calamities’ have unfortunately stalked the world in the 1990s. The Gulf War, genocide in Rwanda, civil strife in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Colombia, parts of the former Soviet Union, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Burundi, Sudan, Angola and many other countries have led to immense human suffering. Natural disasters have wreaked havoc, as with the impact of Hurricane Mitch in Central America and the recent earthquake in Turkey. No review of Education for All can now ignore the destruction of education systems, programmes and infrastructure that accompanies such disasters, nor the traumatic effects of violence and displacement on teachers, children and their families.

The Mid-Decade meeting on Education for All (Amman, 1996) responded to the evolving situation with greater emphasis on education in emergency situations. ‘Delivering basic education in situations of crisis and transition’ was one of the topics for discussion. Recommendations included the classification of schools as ‘safety zones’ to be preserved untouched in times of conflict, better understanding of the role that education plays in conflict management and crisis prevention, and more information on innovative programmes and ways to rebuild education systems to meet the needs of traumatised and displaced groups.

Meanwhile the General Assembly of the United Nations had requested a study into the ways of improving the protection of children affected by armed conflicts (Resolution 48/157, December 1993). The 1996 Report of the Expert on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children (the ‘Machel Report’) set out in detail the horrors being visited on children and steps that should be taken to prevent their recurrence and to improve the protection and care of children. Regarding education, the Report recommends all possible measures to maintain education systems during conflict, and urgent introduction of educational activities for displaced and refugee children and adolescents, and in post-conflict situations. ‘Support for the re-establishment and continuity of education must be a priority strategy for donors and NGOs in conflict and post-conflict situations’ (para. 203e). Schooling is seen as a vital tool for promoting psychosocial well-being after trauma, and for conveying messages relating to health, mine awareness, human rights, peace and tolerance.

Likewise, the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) stressed the need to provide education and training for girls, boys and women affected by displacement (as refugees or internally displaced), or otherwise in need of international protection. Educational materials should be available even in emergency situations, to minimise the disruption of schooling among refugee and displaced children (Platform of Action, para. 147). Education for non-violent conflict resolution and tolerance is recommended for girls, boys and adult members of the community, with a recognition of women’s key role in building a culture of peace (para. 146).(1)

The right to education featured in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Its application to refugees was spelled out in the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951). Populations affected by war, displacement and calamities have the right to education, under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1967) and other human rights instruments, notably the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by almost all nations. These instruments make it clear that that governments must promote the access to education of all children on their territory, including refugee and internally displaced children, without discrimination.(2) Under international humanitarian law also, education is protected in times of conflict. (3)

Article 28, Convention on the Rights of the Child

• Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;
• Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education... , make them available and accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of need;
• Make higher education available to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means...’

The subject of education in emergencies has gained in importance due to the numerous ‘complex emergencies’ of recent years, but restoration of access to education is also important in local emergencies such as earthquakes, floods and droughts. UNICEF notes further that ‘Persistent poverty, the increasing number of children living on streets, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic are silent, chronic emergencies’. (4)

Different agencies use different language for the phases of an emergency. The World Food Programme (WFP), for example, distinguishes initial Emergency Operations and longer term Protracted Relief and Recovery Operations. UNHCR typically divides a complex emergency into a short emergency phase of 3 to 6 months, a ‘Care and Maintenance’ phase, and a phase of support for a durable solution such as repatriation and reconstruction or local settlement.

For UNESCO, an educational emergency is a crisis situation created by conflicts or natural disasters which have destabilised, disorganised or even destroyed the education system, and which requires an integrated process of crisis and post-crisis response.

In general, emergency education programmes are a response to exceptional crisis conditions requiring exceptional means of response, linked to a process of planning for future educational development.

The context of education in emergencies reflects the horrors of contemporary civil conflicts, in which the proportion of victims who are civilians has risen to over 90%. UNICEF estimates that the last decade has seen some two million child deaths from armed conflict, together with six million children seriously injured, one million orphaned or separated from their families and twelve million left homeless.(5)

The Machel Report speaks of ‘the attack on children’, some of whom are forced into armies and militia, and in too many cases, forced to kill, commit atrocities or serve as sexual slaves ; and comments that ‘more and more of the world is being sucked into a desolate moral vacuum …devoid of the most basic human values’ (para. 3). It cites the UNICEF survey in Rwanda in 1995, which showed that 80% of the children surveyed had lost immediate family members and that more than one third of these had witnessed their murders. Children and adults have been traumatised by the exceptional brutality of recent conflicts, as well as by bereavement and often displacement from their homes and communities.

The global refugee population rose to an all-time high in 1992, at 18 million. UNHCR notes that the world refugee population in 1998, estimated at 11.5 million, is the lowest figure for the past ten years. The total ‘population of concern to UNHCR’ in 1998 is 22 million, including two million recently repatriated refugees, five million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in situations where UNHCR has special responsibilities, and recently returned IDPs. (6)

The total number of IDPs in the world is difficult to estimate and there are problems of definition, but it is widely believed that some 50 million people in all are displaced from their homes as IDPs or refugees : approaching one per cent of the world population. In addition there are other populations affected by ongoing or recent civil conflict, who were not counted as displaced or who have returned to their places of origin. A recent study listed 39 countries as having internally displaced populations of 50,000 or over, with six countries –Afghanistan, Angola, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Sudan cited as having internally displaced populations approaching or exceeding one million.(7)

Natural and man-made disasters cause severe damage to education systems. In the case of natural catastrophes the damage is often to school buildings and educational materials. War and violent conflict cause even greater damage, affecting the whole organisational basis of education. There are often dramatic falls in student numbers, due to ongoing fear of attacks, displacement of teachers, destruction and looting of infrastructure and materials, and collapse of local and sometimes national educational administration. In many recent conflicts, the majority of schools have been destroyed or damaged, while others have been used for residential purposes or barracks and need rehabilitation. In Somalia, the war almost totally destroyed the nation’s textbooks and curricula.(8)

3. Emergency education as a development intervention

Education in emergencies has often been seen as a ‘relief’ effort, a temporary measure. This implies that it is optional, in the case of funding problems, and that it need not be designed in a professional manner. As noted in UNICEF’s policy paper ‘Any emergency education programme must be a development programme and not merely a stop-gap measure that will halt when a particular situation is no longer experiencing intense media coverage.’(9) Indeed, since weaknesses in education structures and content may have contributed to civil conflict, an emergency can provide an opportunity for positive change.

Among the many countries facing the problems of a generation inured to conflict or traumatised by participating in it we may cite Afghanistan, Angola, Burundi, Colombia, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, much of the former Yugoslavia, and parts of the former Soviet Union.

It is important to reflect on the fact that many of the poorest countries in the world today are those recently affected by conflict. Investment in the education of the populations involved in those conflicts can represent an investment not only in a better future for those individuals, families and communities but for their country and indeed for neighbouring countries too. Neglect of education can lead to a self-perpetuating cycle of violence and poverty, whereby young people grow up only learning the skills of conflict and the attitudes of revenge.

Education in emergency is a humanitarian imperative which has development-promoting outcomes. In this study, we seek to assess recent achievements and the state of the art in respect of education in emergencies, within the perspective of laying the foundations for the development process.

4. Methodology of the study

The field of education in emergency and post-emergency situations is rather new, and poorly documented. In order to prepare the Theme Paper for this rapidly changing and developing field, a group of agencies (seven UN organisations and 11 NGOs) were invited to join an International Task Force, which met formally in UNESCO in May and September 1999. Members of the Task Force were invited to send questionnaires to their respective field offices. Twenty four responses were received, providing information on 52 specific programmes from different parts of the world. This was supplemented by case studies of another 12 programmes. Due to time constraints, some Task Force members submitted documentation based on their existing records. Analysis of this material provided insights on which the conclusions of this Theme Paper are based. A summary of the survey data is presented in the Annexes. Policy papers, programme overviews and case studies from UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, ILO, UNESCO and NGOs represented a vital input into the analysis and conclusions of the study.

Based on this information, and a review of documentary sources, a first draft of the Theme Study was presented to the Task Force in September 1999. Based on comments and additional information received a second draft was circulated to the Task Force members in November 1999.