Education is in DANGER–-

©Sergi Cámara

The right to education must be protected no matter what.

More and more people around the world are being forced to flee their homes and countries due to war, violence, natural disasters or poverty. Many of them are children who have to leave their homes and schools behind.

In the light of this situation, states and the international community have an obligation to take the necessary measures to respect, protect and guarantee the right to education in situations of emergency, refuge, forced displacement and other associated circumstances.

This is why we are calling on the new European Parliament to:

1.

Take measures to ensure that everyone can enjoy the right to education in contexts of emergency, refuge, displacement or any other migratory situation. It is essential to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration, as well as to allocate the necessary budget and promote intergovernmental agreements on humanitarian aid and development.

2.

Adopt effective monitoring and reporting mechanisms to address violations of the right to education in emergency situations. States must be held accountable for investigating attacks on education, and must establish mechanisms to monitor racial discrimination and xenophobia.

3.

Respect and implement guidelines of international humanitarian law to protect education. Guidelines and actions must be adopted to prevent violence against children and adolescents and their recruitment, ensuring that schools and universities are not used for any military purposes.

4.

Protect actors involved in education and promote curricula based on peace and human rights. Protocols to protect students and teachers in emergency situations need to be created, including measures for psychological care. The curriculum must be adapted to improve the education for displaced adults and must include a gender perspective, the promotion of peace, conflict resolution, risk management and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

For its part, the Government of Spain, as a signatory state of the 2030 Agenda, must:

1.

Comply with the Law on Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity to attempt to achieve an investment of around 0.7% of GDP.

2.

Focus efforts on aid to basic education, undertaking our commitments to existing multilateral initiatives such as the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), and to bilateral by reaching 8% of Official Development Assistance (ODA).

3.

Increase the percentage of contributions to humanitarian aid to education to at least 10%, with a special emphasis on crisis contexts.

4.

Earmark at least 3% of total ODA to Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship in order to make progress towards achieving target 4.7, and with a focus on programmes that incorporate education for refugees and migrants.

5.

Use the 6th Spanish Cooperation Master Plan as an opportunity to include people in emergency situations in both Spanish Cooperation Master Plans as well as in the various Country Partnership Frameworks (CPFs).

6.

Involve refugee and migrant people’s organisations in the dialogue process in both the donor and recipient countries.

7.

Respect human rights in actions of migration governance and international protection procedures, including the right to education for all migrants and refugees.

8.

Ensure the best interests of the child and the fulfilment of all guarantees regarding migration and international protection procedures, including specific measures for children who are separated from their families, are unaccompanied or have other reasons to need protection.

9.

Increase the level of public funding and budgets for education, in particular those aimed at guaranteeing educational equity, which includes fostering compensatory education programmes as this has the greatest impact on migrant and refugee students, and investing in specialised and trained staff and support programmes.

10.

Adopt a gender approach in all external actions of humanitarian action and development cooperation and reinforce the principle of policy coherence in cooperation between foreign policy, human rights policy and equality policy.

Support our cause.

First name *

Last name *

Email *

Province *

I accept the Privacy Policy
At ENTRECULTURAS FOUNDATION, FE Y ALEGRIA and the ALBOAN FOUNDATION we are responsible for how your data is used. It will be used to keep you informed of our activities, send you newsletters or bulletins, ask for your collaboration for our projects and campaigns, manage any donations, or for you to become a member. The legal basis for using your data is based on your express consent or on the execution of a contract. No data will be transferred to third parties unless due to legal obligation or previously notifying you. Your data will be destroyed once you notify us of your withdrawal and/or after the legal deadlines have elapsed. No international transfer of data will be undertaken. You may exercise your right to access, rectify, cancel, oppose, and your right of portability, or to limit processing by contacting ENTRECULTURAS FOUNDATION and FE Y ALEGRIA at the following address: Calle Maldonado 1, 3ª planta, 28006 Madrid, Spain, and for the ALBOAN FOUNDATION at the following address: Calle Padre Lojendio 2, 2ª planta 48008 Bilbao, Spain. Likewise, you may file a complaint with the Spanish Data Protection Agency if you consider your rights on this matter have been infringed.

Learn more about how you can support our cause.

Download our reports on Education in Emergencies to learn more about the situation on the right to education in humanitarian contexts, displacement and the importance of school as a place of welcome and integration.