By Rudina Vojvoda

© UNICEF/NYHQ2013/Markisz
Youth reading the adolescent-friendly version of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples during a launch event for the publication held at UNICEF’s New York headquarters.

In this episode of Beyond School Books, a distinguished panel discusses realizing the right of indigenous peoples to education that is appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.

NEW YORK, 10 June 2013 – Of the 370 million indigenous people in the world, approximately 67 million are youth. Know Your Rights! – the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) written specifically for indigenous adolescents – is aiming to do exactly that: encourage young people to know their rights, protect them and become an active part of decision-making in their community.

BUCHAREST, 24 May 2013 – This week, Romania’s Ministry of Education and UNICEF, in partnership with the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Protection and Senior Citizens, the National Institute of Statistics and the Institute of Education Sciences have launched “All Children in School by 2015 – the Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children: Romania Country Study”. The report was developed as part of the global Out-of-School Children Initiative, an equity focused effort developed by UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics aiming to reduce the number of out-of-school children, address disparities in access and attendance and achieve universal primary education by 2015.

By Meena Bhandari

Six months after Typhoon Bopha took more than 1,000 lives and displaced more than a million people, teaching and learning are starting up again in elementary schools across affected parts of the Philippines.

NEW BATAAN, Philippines, 13 May 2013 – Glenn Larabez can’t wait to go back to school. The 8-year-old usually attends second grade in his village in New Bataan in the province of Compostela Valley. As he speaks about the typhoon that destroyed his family’s home and stole away his pet bird, Alimokon, his voice becomes quiet, matching his tiny frame.

By Chris Niles

NEW YORK, United States of America, 14 May 2013 – Gender equality and education will be critical in planning the development agenda that succeeds the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning Amina Mohammed.

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With the international community assessing the gains made by the MDGs and forging a path for the future after the 2015 deadline, Ms. Mohammed has been appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to help create an inclusive and sustainable development plan.

European Union Flag

Islamabad/Brussels, 8 May 2013 – The European Union has provided € 300,000 from its Nobel Peace Prize money to UNICEF to support its educational activities for children affected by a lack of security in parts of northwestern Pakistan. The agreement was formalised today in Islamabad, between Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to Pakistan and Dan Rohrmann, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan.

Earlier this month, UNICEF attended a UNESCO-INEE organized symposium on Conflict-Sensitive Education – Why and How? in Paris with Ministers of Education from around the world. Conflict-Sensitive Education is a key component of UNICEF’s new four-year programme on Peacebuilding, Education and Advocacy, supported by the Government of the Netherlands. The “Learning for Peace” programme explores innovative ways to build sustainable peace through education in 14 countries around the world.

Ministers of Education from programme countries including Chad, Liberia and Uganda, as well as the Deputy Minister of Education from Sierra Leone and government representatives from the Democratic Republic of Congo joined the day-long discussion, highlighting gaps in funding and considering best practices to integrate conflict sensitive tools into education policies and programmes. For more on the symposium see the below webstory from our partners UNESCO and INEE. For more information on the PBEA programme visit: www.educationandtransition.org/pbea.

©UNHCR / H. Caux
Children from the Central African Republic, who were displaced by an attack on their village, attend class at a bush school near the Chadian border.

The challenges of providing quality education in conflict areas

Conflict-affected countries called for better strategies to ensure that conflict-prevention is integrated into education policies and programmes and that education is not overlooked by donors and humanitarians.

UNESCO recently welcomed Ministers of Education from Chad, Liberia, Mali, Palestine, and Uganda, as well as the Deputy Minister of Education from Sierra Leone and government representatives from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya, to talk about their experiences of providing quality education during and after a conflict. Together with numerous ambassadors and representatives from the Permanent Delegations to UNESCO, UN agencies, bilateral organizations, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, academia and civil society organizations, they participated in the symposium Conflict-Sensitive Education – Why and How?, supported by Comic Relief, the European Commission, UNICEF, and USAID.