Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2 0 1 1

© Sven Torfinn/Panos

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An agenda for change —
Chapter 6
 Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2 0 1 1

correcting the four failures

An opening on the world:

a school building in eastern Chad

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Education for All Global Monitoring Report

Strengthening protection ................... 253

This Report outlines four failures
Providing education to children
caught up in conflict ............................... 255
at the heart of the hidden
education crisis in conflict-
Early recovery and reconstruction –
bridging the humanitarian- affected countries. Reversing
development divide .................................. 256
these failures — in protection,
Making education
a force for peace ........................................ 257 provision, reconstruction and
peacebuilding — requires
concerted global action in many
domains. This chapter sets out
concrete measures that
governments, donors, the
UN system and the international
community at large can take to
help education fulfil its potential
to replace fear with hope.

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 A N A G E N D A F O R C H A N G E — C O R R E C T I N G T H E F O U R FA I L U R E S
T
he Dakar Framework for Action
recognized armed conflict as a major
barrier to progress in education.
Evidence presented in this Report
suggests that the size of the barrier
was underestimated, and that insufficient attention
has been paid to strategies for removing it.
Conflict-affected countries face acute problems
across all six goals monitored in Chapter 1.
Collectively, they have some of the worst indicators
for early childhood development, primary and
secondary school enrolment, adult literacy and
gender inequality. Changing this picture is above
all an imperative for children, youth and adults in
conflict-affected states. But it is also a condition
for accelerated progress towards the Education
for All goals, and for the development of more
peaceful and prosperous societies.
Education in conflict-affected states merits
a far more central place on the international
development agenda. Ending the vast waste
of human talent caused by the impact of armed
conflict on education would unlock new
opportunities for social and economic recovery.
Conversely, failure to unlock those opportunities
would weaken progress in economic growth,
poverty reduction and public health, undermining
the Millennium Development Goals. It would also
leave many countries and millions of people
trapped in a vicious circle of violence, stagnation
in human development, and more violence.
Education has the potential to help break the
vicious circle and replace fear with hope. By
extending opportunities for learning, governments
and donors can forge a new social contract and
generate the skills that people and countries need
to build shared prosperity. By contrast, neglect of
education represents a waste of human potential
and of opportunities for peace. And because the
effects of armed conflict spill across borders,
a wasted opportunity for peace is a threat to
neighbours, regions and the wider international
community. Ultimately, that is why the hidden
crisis in education in conflict-affected states is
a global challenge that demands an international
response.
Resolving the education crisis in conflict-affected
states requires interventions at many levels.
The single most effective antidote to the problems
documented in Chapter 3 is conflict prevention.
When that fails, enforcement of human rights
provisions and humanitarian protection can help
limit the human costs, but conflict resolution and
peacebuilding are the only real foundations for
recovery. These are areas in which the strengths
and weaknesses of wider international cooperation
effects have a very direct bearing on education.
For example, more active, informed and coherent
foreign policy and diplomatic efforts in the Great
Lakes region of Africa could help resolve some
of the world’s longest-running and most violent
conflicts, creating a platform for recovery in
education. Strengthening provisions on the
‘right to protect’ civilians would enable the United
Nations to be more effective in shielding civilians
and in protecting schoolchildren from the threats
that keep them out of school. And strengthening
a multilateral system weakened by recourse
to unilateralism would greatly facilitate efforts
to prevent disputes from turning into armed
conflicts that destroy education systems.
As this Report has shown, there are four failures
at the heart of the hidden crisis in education –
in protection, provision, reconstruction and
peacebuilding. Correcting these failures will not
be easy. Each of them is deeply institutionalized
and rooted in wider failures of international
cooperation. Yet change is possible – and the
human, social and economic costs of the hidden Education has the
crisis are so high that business as usual is not potential to help
a credible option.
break the vicious
circle of armed
Strengthening protection
conflict and poverty
The international human rights system enshrines and replace fear
laws, rules and norms aimed at protecting with hope
civilians caught up in armed conflict. Responsibility
for protecting people against human rights
violations rests, first and foremost, with national
governments. But when states are unable or
unwilling to protect citizens, or when they are
directly implicated in violating human rights, then
responsibility shifts to the international community.
Failures of protection directly affect education.
As this Report has documented in Chapters 3 and 4,
pupils and schools are now widely seen as
legitimate targets for armed protagonists. The
widespread and systematic use of rape and other
forms of sexual violence as an instrument of war,
an egregious violation of human rights, has far-
reaching consequences for education. State as
well as non-state actors are implicated in such
abuses. Yet despite monitoring, reporting and
Security Council resolutions, the gross human
rights abuses that are destroying lives, keeping
children out of school and undermining prospects
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for learning are carried out in a culture of impunity.
Few issues on the Education for All agenda merit
Education for All Global Monitoring Report
more urgent attention than ending that culture.
This Report advocates action in four areas:
Reinforce the monitoring and reporting
mechanism on children in armed conflict
The creation of the monitoring and reporting
mechanism (MRM) was a milestone in international
reporting, but it needs to be strengthened. Equal
weight should be attached to all six of the grave
violations of human rights covered, with the names
of identified state and non-state actors included in
annual reports to the Security Council. Coverage
needs to be more comprehensive, with the Security
Council authorizing detailed investigation of all
countries in which there are concerns. The
monitoring system suffers from limited resourcing
and fragmented reporting that is primarily based on
information gathered through UN country missions.
If the MRM is to provide a more accurate picture
of the scale and scope of gross human rights
violations against children, it needs to be resourced
The ICC should and equipped to conduct more robust investigation,
take a far more and the United Nations Secretary-General should
call on member states to increase support.
active part in
prosecuting Ultimately, though, monitoring is a means to
those involved in ensuring protection and enforcement. The 2005
conducting, Security Council resolution that established the
authorizing or MRM allowed for the use of punitive measures.
While sanctions should be a last resort, they should
failing to prevent be applied on a targeted and selective basis, not
rape and other just against the immediate perpetrators of human
sexual violence rights violations but also against those responsible
in state security forces and armed militias – and
against governments that fail to act on their duty
to protect. There should be closer cooperation
between the UN and the International Criminal
Court (ICC) in monitoring human rights abuses
relating to children, with the Security Council
requesting prosecution where appropriate.
Strengthen reporting on education
International reporting on human rights violations
directly relating to education is poorly developed.
Only limited and disjointed data are available. There
have been attempts to fill the information gaps,
including UNESCO’s 2010 Education under Attack
report. What is needed, though, is a comprehensive
and systematic system through which attacks on
schools and schoolchildren are reported and
investigated, also covering wider attacks on
teachers, students over 18 and institutions of higher
education. As the lead United Nations agency on
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education, UNESCO should be given a mandate and
resources to play a more active role in monitoring
through a dedicated Violence Against Education
Monitoring Group. UNESCO would provide
professional and technical support, though
consideration should be given to making the
proposed group an independent unit operating
under the supervision of respected human rights
experts and legal professionals.
Criminalize rape and other sexual violence
National governments and the international
community are failing to address one of the gravest
violations of human rights in conflict-affected
countries, with devastating consequences for
education. The culture of impunity surrounding
rape and other forms of sexual violence is deeply
embedded, and has been impervious to Security
Council resolutions. It is reinforced by what
amounts to a conspiracy of silence on the part
of political leaders. An issue that should figure
prominently on the agendas of regional meetings
in Africa and summits of the Groups of Eight and
Twenty and the UN is conspicuous by its absence.
This Report calls for the creation of an International
Commission on Rape and Sexual Violence headed
by the Under-Secretary General for UN Women.
Drawing on legal and technical advice from the ICC,
the commission would investigate conflict-affected
countries identified in UN reports as sites of
widespread and systematic rape and other forms
of sexual violence, and report its findings to the
Security Council. The ICC should provide legal
and technical advice. That advice should include
assessment of whether the available evidence
points towards war crimes and crimes against
humanity, and whether the perpetrators include
state actors. The ICC should also advise the
proposed commission on whether state actors are
fulfilling their responsibility to protect. Beyond the
work of the proposed commission, the ICC should
take a far more active part in investigating and
prosecuting state and non-state actors involved in
conducting, authorizing or failing to prevent rape
and other sexual violence. Governments, the ICC
prosecutor’s office and the Security Council
should signal a clear intent to act against those
responsible for violations and for failures of
protection. As in other areas, the current
monitoring system needs to be strengthened,
extended to human rights violations against
people over age 18 and backed by sanctions
and prosecution.
 A N A G E N D A F O R C H A N G E — C O R R E C T I N G T H E F O U R FA I L U R E S
Support national plans
for ending human rights abuses
Sanctions should be viewed not as a first option but
as a last resort. Under the current MRM system,
state and non-state actors identified as responsible
for gross human rights violations can be removed
from the lists reported to the Security Council
if they adopt and act upon national plans for
protecting civilians. To date, national plans have
focused principally on child soldiers. They should
be extended to include clear time-bound targets
for protection, prevention and prosecution in other
areas, including rape and other forms of sexual
violence. UN agencies and bilateral donors should
strengthen their support for the implementation
of national plans. One promising initiative is the
International Violence Against Women Act
presented to the US Congress. It authorizes
the State Department to adopt plans to reduce
violence in up to twenty target countries. The
approach could be applied more widely, with
donors cooperating to strengthen the rule of law.
Providing education
to children caught up in conflict
This report has documented the extraordinary
resolve demonstrated by children and parents
in trying to maintain access to education amid
conflict. It has also documented the failure of the
international community to match that resolve.
The gap between the ambition and innovation
displayed by ordinary people on the front line,
on the one hand, and the actions of governments,
international agencies and aid donors on the other,
has to be closed. That gap is particularly evident
in the humanitarian aid system: it is indefensible
that education receives less than 2% of an already
underfunded humanitarian aid effort. The gap
is also reflected in the limited education provision
for refugees and, even more so, for internally
displaced people (IDPs). Action is needed in
four areas:
Change the humanitarian mindset
Arguably the single biggest obstacle to meaningful
reform is a perception that education is at best a
second-order priority in humanitarian crises and at
worst an irrelevance. That is not how the parents
of children in conflict-related emergencies see
things. International agencies such as UNESCO,
UNICEF and the World Bank, and the wider
Education for All partnership, should advocate far
more forcefully for the full integration of education
into humanitarian planning in conflict-affected
states, building on the efforts of the International
Network for Education in Emergencies and Save
the Children’s Rewrite the Future campaign.
Increase the financial envelope
It is not possible to put a figure on the financing
requirements for education in humanitarian
emergencies. By definition, the requirements
are contingent on the levels and effects of armed
conflict. However, the chronic and sustained
underfinancing of education in emergencies has
to be addressed, and simply shifting resources
from other areas into education is not the
answer. This Report proposes scaling up
financial provisions for pooled humanitarian funds
(such as the Central Emergency Response Fund)
from their current level of around US$730 million
to US$2 billion annually. In cases where funding
of requests for education falls below the average
for all sectors, multilateral funds should be used The humanitarian
to top up the education budget. aid system should
Beyond the level of funding, aid donors need
be adjusted to
to adopt budgeting frameworks that are geared allow for flexible,
towards the realities of long-term displacement. multiyear provision
Currently, most humanitarian aid is mobilized
through annual appeals. This is an area in which
the short-termism of the humanitarian system
is costing children opportunities for education.
For countries in which many people are displaced
for several years, the reliance on annual
appeals makes financing arrangements highly
unpredictable and uncertain. The process should
be adjusted to allow for flexible, multiyear
provision in situations of long-term displacement
and long-running conflict.
Conduct more credible needs assessments
The starting point for effective provision of
education in conflict-related emergencies is
a credible assessment of needs. Current
arrangements fall far short of the credibility test.
There are no effective institutional arrangements
for assessing the needs of communities in conflict
zones. Similarly, while there has been some
progress, needs assessments undertaken by the
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in
its camps do not provide a systematic evaluation
of the funding levels required to achieve Education
for All goals. Information on education provision
for IDPs and refugees living in host communities
is even more fragmented and partial. Education
clusters have helped strengthen coordination and
put education on the humanitarian map. But the
financial requests that they generate vastly
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underestimate the level of support required and
do not sufficiently identify the needs of different
Education for All Global Monitoring Report
groups caught up in conflict.
An immediate priority is to develop a more
systematic framework geared towards identifying
financing requirements for achieving clearly
There are defined education goals, including reaching
grounds for neglected groups, notably IDPs. Education clusters
should work with specialized agencies such as the
considering a UNESCO Institute for Statistics that have expertise
twin mandate in collecting data and developing core education
involving UNHCR indicators to strengthen needs assessment.
and UNICEF to Education clusters should also take a lead role in
support coordinating efforts to link information systems to
financing requirements, drawing on the experience
education for of humanitarian agencies with expertise in this
IDPs and area in other sectors. They should work alongside
refugees UNESCO and other agencies which have expertise
in developing models for estimating education
provision costs, which have been used extensively
in non-conflict settings.
Reform governance arrangements
and clarify mandates
Current governance systems for protecting the
right to education of people displaced by conflict
are unfit for purpose. The 1951 Convention relating
to the Status of Refugees provides a high level of
legal protection, but many states have not signed
it. Some of these states offer minimal support to
refugees or treat them as illegal immigrants –
an approach that deprives many of the right to
education. Others provide a high level of support.
This Report cites the experience of Jordan – where
Iraqi refugees have access to state schools – as
an approach that could be more widely followed.
There is also a need for more equitable burden-
sharing. Most refugees are hosted by poor
countries, many of which receive limited financial
support. Donor governments should increase
their contributions to UNHCR and host country
governments to facilitate more effective provision
of education.
Legal entitlements to education for IDPs and
the levels of provision afforded them are far
more limited. One exception to the general rule
is Colombia; other countries should follow its
example by adopting laws requiring state bodies to
protect IDP education and assure equal citizenship
rights. Regional arrangements can also make a
difference. All African governments should ratify
the Kampala Convention for the Protection and
Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons, which
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could serve as a model for other regions. Education
provision for refugees and IDPs has also suffered
from poorly defined remits. In particular, the
roles of UNHCR and UNICEF need to be clarified.
There is a strong case for giving UNHCR broader
responsibilities, backed by finance and resources,
for protection of IDPs and refugees alike, both in
camps and in host communities. However, UNHCR
has a limited track record in education and equally
limited institutional capacity. Given UNICEF’s
experience and expertise, there are grounds for
considering a twin mandate on education for IDPs
and refugees. UNESCO should also be far more
active in assessing the financial, technical and
human resource requirements for delivering
quality education to refugees and IDPs.
Early recovery and reconstruction —
bridging the humanitarian-
development divide
Peace settlements create a window of opportunity.
They provide governments and the international
community with a chance to lay the foundations of
a society that will be more resilient and less prone
to violent conflict. Education can be a pivotal part
of the reconstruction process. It gives post-conflict
governments a way to deliver an early and highly
visible peace premium. And the development of a
good quality, inclusive education system can help
overcome social divisions that may have fuelled
conflict. Yet all too often the post-conflict window of
opportunity closes before governments and donors
have acted decisively. The message of this Report
is that education has to be given a far more central
place on the post-conflict reconstruction agenda
and that donors need to start early and stay the
course in supporting the reconstruction effort.
The Report recommends action in four areas:
Exploit quick wins and deliver
the peace premium
Reconstructing education systems is complex
and protracted – but people cannot wait while
governments develop new institutional
arrangements. This Report has identified several
ways for post-conflict governments, with donor
support, to unlock early benefits in education.
Withdrawal of user fees, support for physical
reconstruction of classrooms, provision of
accelerated learning programmes for young people
who have missed out on schooling, extension of
skills training and psychosocial support through
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
programmes, and increased recruitment and
 A N A G E N D A F O R C H A N G E — C O R R E C T I N G T H E F O U R FA I L U R E S
training of teachers are among the policy
interventions used in states that have successfully
negotiated the transition from peace accords to
long-term reconstruction.
Build foundations for long-term recovery
Institutional reforms in education can help sustain
the transition to peace. A starting point is a post-
conflict needs assessment identifying bottlenecks
such as shortages of teachers, schools and
teaching materials. Information systems are vital.
They enable governments to align resources with
needs, assess the financing implications of
education policy goals and improve transparency.
The development of an education management
information system (EMIS) may appear to be a
technical and administrative operation. But it is
one of the most important of all post-conflict
reconstruction exercises in education. Donors
should put more emphasis on building
governments’ capacity to develop and use an
EMIS. Inclusive education strategies targeting
support to groups and areas particularly affected
by conflict serve a twin purpose, as they also
address underlying causes of conflict. This is an
area in which current donor strategies fall far
short, with insufficient attention to equity. One
of the most critical requirements for successful
donor interventions is a long-term planning
horizon, backed by predictable financial support.
Increase pooled funding
Conflict-affected states are often left in a grey
area. Considered unable to meet the governance
requirements for long-term development
assistance, they remain dependent on limited,
short-term, volatile humanitarian aid flows. This
is the opposite of what is required, especially in
education. If governments are to build secure
planning foundations for the reconstruction and
reform of education systems, they need predictable,
long-term financial support at levels reflecting the
scale of the challenge. One reason many donors
underinvest in post-conflict reconstruction in
education is that they are averse to perceived risks,
including those associated with corruption, weak
governance and a potential return to conflict. The
risks are real, yet they can be addressed through
well-designed aid interventions.
As this Report has shown, pooling resources within
countries offers many benefits, including spreading
of risk, reduced transaction costs and more
efficient fiduciary management. Donors should
actively explore the potential for scaling up pooled
fund arrangements and establishing new funds
in countries that have received less attention.
Wider governance concerns can be addressed
by strengthening public financial management
systems and the accountability mechanisms
through which governments report to their citizens.
Make the Fast Track Initiative a more
effective global pooled fund
In the health sector, global pooled funds have
provided significant amounts of finance to a large
group of countries, including conflict-affected
states. The education sector does not have a
comparable experience. While the Education for
All Fast Track Initiative (FTI) has achieved some
positive results, well-documented problems in
disbursement, governance and approaches to
conflict-affected states have undermined its
effectiveness. Many of these issues are now being
addressed. Implementing the reforms outlined
in the 2010 EFA Global Monitoring Report and in Donors should
an independent external evaluation could make scale up pooled
the FTI a far more effective delivery mechanism,
enabling it to become a more central element
fund arrangements
in the aid architecture for education. In general, and establish new
and for conflict-affected states in particular, the funds in countries
FTI must have financial resources commensurate that have received
with the scale of the challenge. This Report less attention
recommends financing of around US$6 billion
annually from 2011 to 2013. Around one-third
of that amount could come from bonds issued by
a new International Finance Facility for Education,
as proposed in Chapter 2.
Making education a force for peace
An important starting point for conflict prevention
and post-conflict reconstruction is to recognize
that education matters. What people are taught,
how they are taught and how education systems are
organized can make countries more or less prone
to violence. Policies in areas ranging from language
of instruction to curriculum and the devolution of
planning all have a bearing on conflict prevention
and prospects for a lasting peace. The Report
recommends new approaches in four areas:
Recognize that education policy
is part of the peacebuilding agenda
National governments and aid donors need to
recognize far more explicitly that, whatever their
intent, education policy reforms influence public
perceptions in areas that relate to the long-
standing grievances that fuel conflict. And the
practice of behaving as though education reform
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CHAPTER 6

is first and foremost a technical exercise can Peacebuilding is also at the core of UNESCO’s
undermine its potential contribution to wider mandate, as the introduction to this part of the
Education for All Global Monitoring Report

peacebuilding efforts. Report points out. There is a strong case for

identifying areas of distinctive competence in
Integrate post-conflict assessments peacebuilding and post-conflict planning at
and peacebuilding into the national UNESCO that could be expanded and strengthened.
education strategy For example, the Organization could be resourced
Governments and aid donors need to carry out risk and equipped to widen its involvement in supporting
assessments aimed at identifying areas in which post-conflict dialogue about education policy. It
education policy has the potential to do harm, and should also take the lead in providing technical
at exploiting areas where it can address underlying advice on curriculum development and reform,
causes of conflict. Creating a post-conflict and in facilitating the sharing of best practices.
Education and Peacebuilding Commission, bringing UNESCO’s specialized institutes could also enhance
There is a together a wide range of political actors and their activities. For example, the International
strong case for education professionals, can help forge a new Institute for Education Planning runs highly
consensus, and using the commission to initiate regarded courses on planning and management for
strengthening public dialogue can ensure that policy-makers education administrators in developing countries. It
peacebuilding develop a better sense of potential risks. could develop a module geared to conflict-sensitive
and post-conflict planning, with a special focus on poor countries.
planning at Expanding the Peacebuilding Fund
UNESCO Strengthening the role of education in
peacebuilding requires national leadership backed
by resources. Many governments in post-conflict
countries lack the capacity or the finances to
embark upon comprehensive planning. Increasing
resources for education in the United Nations
Peacebuilding Fund to between US$500 million and
US$1 billion annually could facilitate more effective
use of the window of opportunity provided by peace.
An expanded fund geared towards long-term
planning for peacebuilding could supplement donor
efforts and leverage additional financing.

Enhancing the role of UNESCO and UNICEF

in peacebuilding initiatives
Sustained peacebuilding requires more than just
planning and financial resources. It also needs
dedicated professionals and agencies committed
to building capacity and providing technical support
in areas ranging from curriculum development to
textbook design and teacher training. This is an
area in which UNESCO and UNICEF need to play
a far more central role. Both agencies should
participate more actively in the United Nations
Peacebuilding Commission. More broadly, UNICEF
is well placed to take the lead in putting education
at the centre of the wider peacebuilding agenda.
It has extensive experience not only in delivering
education in conflict-affected countries, but also
in areas ranging from designing peacebuilding
materials to training teachers and providing
safe spaces for learning. As a priority, UNICEF
should continue to strengthen its evaluation of
the relevance and effectiveness of its own
peacebuilding interventions.

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 Drawing by Maxwell Ojuka
courtesy of A River Blue.
A child’s view of conflict
in northern Uganda between
government forces and
the Lord’s Resistance Army

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