Emergencies and fragile contexts

Access to education is regarded as a basic human right. It is enshrined in numerous international instruments, but countries in the midst of crisis, fragility or reconstruction have particular challenges in order to uphold these commitments. IIEP’s mandate is to support education actors working in these contexts. We do this through training, providing evidenced based research for good practice and by raising the international profile of education in emergencies and fragile contexts through our networks. For background info, see for instance the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990) and the Dakar Framework for Action (2000).

Education saves lives in times of crisis

During conflict, emergencies and situations of fragility, education is central to the protection of children affected or displaced by crisis. It can educate children for example in the detection of landmines, or how to avoid sexual abuse or labour exploitation, military recruitment, and other harmful practices. Quality education supports children through the trauma of conflict or fragility by providing stability, hope and a sense of identity. For background info, read this article.

An emerging field

There is an increasing political and international focus on countries affected by conflict or fragility. These countries are furthest away from the MGDs and the millions of children who are out of school are currently underserved by the education provision in these contexts. With its documentation and planning expertise UNESCO-IIEP will continue to provide evidenced based research and documentation that will guide more effective education interventions in these contexts. The field of education in emergencies and fragile contexts is a relatively recent field of research and IIEP has been at the forefront of groundbreaking work in this field.
Read more in IIEP’s publications section.
See articles on emergencies in IIEP's Newsletters

IIEP’s mandate

The Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) placed capacity building of ‘institutions, systems and local expertise’ at the forefront of the Accra High Level Forum in September 2008. Specific mention was made in the AAA of providing further support to countries affected by fragility or emerging from conflict. Such statements endorse not only IIEP’s overall mandate in capacity development and educational planning, but also our commitment to provide specific and consistent support to ‘situations of fragility including countries emerging from conflict’.