The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education

1. 1 The hidden crisis:Armed conflict and education Karen Moore Launch organized by IBE, RECI and SDC Bern, 20 May 2011

2. Nine EFA GMRs to date… 2002 Education for All – Is the world on track? 2003/4 Gender and Education for All – The leap to equality 2005 Education for All – The quality imperative 2006 Literacy for life 2007 Strong foundations – Early childhood care and education 2008 Education for All by 2015. Will we make it? 2009 Overcoming inequality: Why governance matters 2010 Reaching the marginalized 2011 The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education 2012 Skills development

3. Key messages of 2011 EFA – GMR • Time is running out – the world is not on track • Education should be at the centre of development • Armed conflict is a major obstacle to Education for All • Education can fuel conflict…. and be an engine for peace

4. Monitoring the six EFA goals • Goal 1: Early childhood care and education • Slow progress in improving child nutrition • Maternal education matters for child survival • Goal 2: Universal primary education • Uneven progress across and within countries, and dropouts eroding enrolment gains • But ‘success stories’ demonstrate potential for accelerated progress

5. 67 million children out of school in 2008 – and progress is slowing Short-run projections Long-run projections The long-run trend is optimistic compared to the more recent trend observed 120 Global number 106 Million 100 80 67 million Out-of-school children (millions) 60 43 million 40 million 40 29 million 128 countries were used for projections 20 2008 2015 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

6. Monitoring the six EFA goals • Goal 1: Early childhood care and education • Slow progress in improving child nutrition • Maternal education matters for child survival • Goal 2: Universal primary education • Uneven progress across and within countries, and dropouts eroding enrolment gains • But ‘success stories’ demonstrate potential for accelerated progress • Goal 3: Youth and adult learning • Growing demand for secondary and tertiary education – but large global inequalities, weak links to employment • 74 million adolescents out of school

7. Monitoring the six EFA goals • Goal 4: Adult literacy • 796 million illiterate adults, two-thirds women • Absolute numbers still rising in some regions, yet progress is possible • Goal 5: Gender parity and equality • 69 countries still to achieve gender parity at primary level; in 26, fewer than 9 girls for every 10 boys • Parity would mean 3.6 million more girls in primary school • Goal 6: Quality • Large inequalities in achievement levels across and within countries • Quality/quantity trade-offs are not inevitable

8. Financing Education for All • Many national governments need to increase education financing • National governments need to mobilize additional resources • Donors are falling short of their commitments • New and innovative funding could help close the financing gap

9. Armed conflict and education • Armed conflict is a barrier to Education for All • Conflict destroys opportunities for education • Education can contribute to the processes that fuel conflict

10. Education’s hidden crisis in conflict-affected states • Children in conflict affected poor countries: • 24% of all children in the poorest countries • 28 million out of school • 47% of out of school children in the poorest countries Under-5 Mortality rate 24% 0 50 100 150 47% Per 1,000 births Stunting 0 20 40 60 % Non-conflict affected Conflict-affected

11. Conflict reinforces education inequality D. R. Congo • Within countries, conflict-affected areas are at the bottom of the national education league table • Within these areas, it is the poor and girls who are worst affected Poorest 20% female 40% North Kivu 30% Population aged 17-22 with fewer than 2 years of education 20% Richest 20% male 10% 0%

12. Impact of wars on children, teachers and schools • Children, teachers, schools on the front-line • Conflict-related poverty and disease are a major killer • Armed conflicts within countries; indiscriminate use of force and targeting of civilians • Rape and sexual violence are a widespread ‘terror tactic’

13. Military spending diverting education resources Pakistan Angola Chad Guinea Bissau - Afghanistan • 21 of the world’s poorest developing countries that spend more on military budgets than primary education • 10% of their military spending could put 9.5 million children into school Kyrgyzstan Burundi Mauritania D. R. Congo Bangladesh Ethiopia Togo Yemen Uganda Vietnam Burkina Faso Mali Nepal Sierra Leone Cambodia C. A. R. Gambia Cote d'Ivoire Madagascar Kenya Senegal U. R. Tanzania 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ratio of military to primary education expenditure

14. Six days of military spending could close the EFA gap US$1029 billion Total annual military spending by donor countries number of days of military spending needed to close the EFA funding gap 6

15. Aid follows security agendas Aid is skewed towards a small group of countries identified as national security priorities Aid to basic education 2002 - 2003 2007 - 2008 200 180 Constant 2008 US$ millions 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Chad Afghanistan Sudan Somalia D.R. Congo Pakistan Iraq Cote d'Ivoire C.A.R.

16. The reverse cycle – education can contribute to conflict • Failing youth aspirations and weak link to labour markets • Unequal provision fuels social disparities and resentment • Curriculum reinforcing ethnic, language and religious divisions

17. Hidden crisis in education reinforced by four failures • Protection of children, teachers and civilians from human rights abuses • Provision of education to vulnerable populations trapped in violent conflict, and to refugees and internally displaced people • Reconstruction to seize the education peace premium • Peacebuilding to unlock the potential of education as a force for peace

18. Failures of protection • Some advances over the past decade: • Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on children in armed conflict • Secretary General reports to the Security Council • Resolutions and strengthened leadership on rape and other sexual violence • But: • Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism remains fragmented and partial • Insufficient weight attached to protection of schools • ‘Naming and shaming’ is not enough

19. Protecting education • More integrated monitoring across UN system • UNESCO to provide leadership in monitoring attacks on education • Support national plans for prevention and punishment of human rights abuses • High level commission on rape and sexual violence, linked to International Criminal Court

20. Failures of provision • Conflict-affected communities place high priority on education • But humanitarian agencies do not recognize education as ‘life-saving’ – education is ‘poor neighbour’ in humanitarian aid system: only 2% of funding • Humanitarian aid delivers short-term and unpredictable aid for long-term emergencies • Refugees have strong rights but weak entitlements / IDPs have weak rights and entitlements

21. Providing education Humanitarian aid in 2009 – education only 2% Education received US$ Million only 2% of all funding. 4000 Requested amount 3500 Funding received 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Education Food Health Multi - sector Shelter and Coordination Water and Agriculture Economic Protection, Mine action non - food and support sanitation recovery and human rights, items services infrastructure rule of law

22. Long-term humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid delivers short-term and unpredictable aid for long-term emergencies Other recipients 1 256 Major recipients: 754 Short term 1 823 6 countries Sudan D.R. Congo Medium term O. Palestinian T. 3 958 US$ millions Afghanistan Somalia Long term Iraq

23. Providing education • Change humanitarian mindset • Increase humanitarian pooled funding to US$ 2 billion annually, and ensure that education gets the same share of request funded as others sectors. • Develop a more effective assessment system to gear financing to needs • Strengthening refugee entitlements (Jordan) and internally displaced (Colombia, Kampala Convention)

24. Failures of reconstruction • Slow and fragmented responses to opportunities for peace • Continued reliance on humanitarian aid, and limited provision of long-term assistance • Insufficient investment in building capacity of the education system

25. Reconstructing education • Make an early transition to long-term development assistance (Sierra Leone vs. Liberia) • Focus on capacity-building, including developing education management information systems (Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Somaliland) • Strengthen the EFA Fast Track Initiative through US$6 billion per year replenishment – with more flexible rules for conflict-affected states

26. Failures of peacebuilding • Education insufficiently integrated into strategies for conflict prevention and post-conflict peace-building • Limited efforts to undertake conflict risk assessments for education policy • Gap between principles and policy implementation (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

27. Building peace • Education for equality and shared identity - e.g. curriculum, language of instruction (Northern Ireland, U.R. Tanzania) • Make schools non-violent environments • Expand the UN Peacebuilding Fund, enhancing the role of UNESCO and UNICEF

28. Conclusion: An agenda for change • Strengthen human rights protection for children caught up in conflict • Put education at the centre of humanitarian responses • Start early, and stay for the long haul, for reconstruction • Use education as a force for peace

29. 1 www.efareport.unesco.org