Political and military violence targeting educational systems is depriving a growing number of children of the right to education, according to “Education under Attack”, a UNESCO report launched today at the Organization Headquarters in Paris.

© UNESCO/Roya Aziz/Star Group

Published on the occasion of Global Action Week (April 23-29) in favour of Education for All*, the report is dedicated to Safia Ama Jan, who devoted her life to getting Afghan girls into school. She was shot and killed outside her home in Kandahar in September 2006.


"National authorities and the international community must stand united against the forces that would seek to destroy the efforts made by people such as Safia Ama Jan, said UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura. "Education is one of the pillars of development, prosperity and peace. It is a human right. We must do our utmost to defend and ensure the security of those who are working in this vital area."


The report defines violent attacks as "the deliberate use of force in ways that disrupt and deter the provision of and access to education." It examines the assassination, abduction, illegal detention and torture of students, teaching staff, trade unionists, administrators and officials. It also looks at the bombing and burning of educational buildings and the closure of institutions by force.


Forty percent of the world's 77 million out-of-school children live in conflict-affected and post-conflict countries, where education is particularly vulnerable to attack. The study shows that Iraq's educational system is the worst hit by violent attacks, with 30 percent of Iraq's 3.5 million pupils now attending classes compared to 75 percent in the last school year. Baghdad universities are reporting attendance down by between 40 and 67 percent. More than 3,000 academics have fled the country.


Violent attacks are also hampering the right of young people to education in other countries, including: Afghanistan (79 incidents involving explosions, burnings and missile attacks in 2006), Colombia (310 teachers murdered between 2000 and 2006), Nepal (20,600 teachers and 22,000 students abducted between 2002 and 2006) and Thailand (130 schools burned down from 2004 to 2006).


The study, undertaken by U.K-based journalist end education specialist Brendan O'Malley, urges the international community to address the issue of violent attacks, press for an end to impunity for such attacks and extend the application of human rights instruments to cover violence against education.


It also recommends the establishment of a publicly accessible global database to facilitate the examination of trends in the scale, nature and targeting of attacks as well as qualitative research into their motives. It calls for the allocation of more resources to the International Criminal Court so that more education-related cases can be brought to trial.

• § Author(s):UNESCOPRESS
• § Source:Press Release No. 2007-44
• § 27-04-2007

Link:  Report on "Education Under Attack"