© UNICEF/NYHQ2004-0269/Christine Nesbitt
A man teacher addresses a class of girls, in a temporary classroom in the Kassab IDP camp near the town of Kutum, 116 km from capital of North Darfur.

NEW YORK, USA, 16 November 2007 – Providing education to children in regions and societies affected by conflict – or emerging from it – is a major challenge.

Yet communities in conflict-affected areas consistently rank education as a high priority. And they demonstrate astounding resourcefulness and resilience in seeking out and providing schooling for their children.

Educating children in conflict zones

In Iraq, as in many other conflict zones, schools may be targets of violence and must operate in increasingly tense security situations.

UNICEF Colombia Representative Paul Martin and UNICEF Iraq Deputy Representative Geeta Verma with podcast moderator Amy Costello at a discussion on education in conflict-affected countries.

“Examinations that took place recently saw, for the first time, a decline in the number of children who sat for the exam and, further, those who were able to pass,” said Geeta Verma, speaking of Iraq last week during a discussion about the role of education in countries affected by conflict or natural disaster. “The learning levels are going down rapidly, which means that the quality of education is in rapid decline,” she added.

“In Southern Sudan, you find that … the adult literacy rates are very low, the lowest in the world,” said Sibeso Luswata, noting the challenges of working in an area that recently emerged from conflict.

Paul Martin cited the difficulty of providing education to vulnerable and excluded children in middle-income countries such as Colombia – especially in remote areas. The problem is “particularly acute in Colombia because of the situation of violence, which is affecting large areas but not all of the country at once,” he said. “A lot of the problems in those isolated areas are quite similar to the things that have been described in Sudan and in Iraq.”

A tool for social transformation

Ms. Verma, Ms. Luswata and Mr. Martin made their comments in the third segment of ‘Beyond School Books’, a series of discussions that are distributed online and through UNICEF Radio podcasts.

UNICEF has launched the series – hosted by Amy Costello, a former correspondent for Public Radio International – to help advance the discussion on the role of education in countries affected by conflict or natural disaster, or emerging from crisis.

About this Podcast

Voices from the Field. A discussion about educating children in some of the world’s most challenging contexts, featuring these guests:
Sibeso Luswata, UNICEF Southern Sudan Chief of Education; Paul Martin, UNICEF Representative in Colombia; and Geeta Verma, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Iraq.

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Education Under Attack – Podcast 3

Click here to listen to other podcast in the “BEYOND SCHOOL BOOKS” series.

Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN Claude Heller (left), UN Special Representative Radhika Coomaraswamy, UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sign ‘red hands’ petition.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0105/Markisz

NEW YORK, USA, 13 February 2009 – Children from 101 countries have appealed to international leaders to take stronger action to end the use of child soldiers.

Red Hand Day, 12 February, marks the anniversary of the signing of a protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) that forbids the use of children in conflict.

But despite the existence of this protocol, more than 250,000 children are still being forced into conflict in at least 17 countries – including some that have ratified the treaty.

Secretary-General receives petition

To try and end this abuse, children circulated a petition and collected more than 250,000 painted ‘red hands’. In a ceremony at UNICEF House in New York yesterday, former child soldiers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia – along with youth activists from Germany and the United States – presented them to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (second from left) stands with youth delegates from the Red Hand Day campaign. From left: Julia Price from the US, Madeleine from DR Congo, Yina Paola from Colombia and Anne Maria Anders from Germany. 
"The issue will remain a high priority for the United Nations," he said.

UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman leant her full support to the petition, noting that entire generations of children have known nothing but war.

Veneman, the Secretary-General, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN Claude Heller and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, also added their signatures and ‘red hands’ to the petition. 

‘Recruitment violates international law’

The young people appealed for urgent action.

"Former child soldiers like me are encouraged to have youth from all over the world standing up for our rights," said Yina Paola Moreno Soto, 20, from Colombia. "We hope that world leaders and commanders using child soldiers will pay attention."

Ban added: "This is a truly impressive effort to engage children around the world in one of the most appalling human rights abuses…. Recruitment violates international law and human decency. I am determined to stamp out such abuse."

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[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StQ_3g32Rg4 300 246]

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