The call is made a day before the world marks the UN Day for Protection of Education from Attack, in midst of growing violence against students, teachers and schools

Doha – 08 September 2021:  Education Above All (EAA), the global education foundation, issued a call today for reparations and compensation of victims of attacks on education. The call was made ahead of a high-level virtual event to mark the UN International Day for the Protection of Education from Attack and comes as recently released figures show a dramatic increase in attacks on education in 2020, despite COVID-19-related school closures. According to the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) – of which EAA is a founding member – there were 2,400 documented attacks on education in 2020, a 33% increase since 2019. 

“Attacks on education around the world are increasing each year, depriving millions of young people of a future. The students and staff who are killed or injured in these attacks are not collateral damage; they are victims of deliberate attacks, targeted in the very spaces where they should be safe to learn and teach. It is time for the international community to move beyond calls for accountability and to work on concrete ways to stop attacks,” said Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of EAA and UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate.

EAA noted that international law already includes rules to hold perpetrators accountable and to require them to pay reparations and compensation to victims. EAA advocates for the enforcement of these international rules to ensure justice for victims of attacks on education. 

Thursday’s Protect Education for Sustainable Peace virtual event provides a forum to discuss issues relating to accountability and justice for victims of violence against education. Co-organised by EAA, the Qatar Mission to the United Nations, UNICEF, UNESCO and the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, the day will bring together Global and UN leaders, youth advocates, policy makers and academics to discuss how to protect education and build sustainable peace. 

EAA’s appeal to the global community comes as part of its three-year #UniteToProtect global campaign to end education on attacks through the collection of data on attacks as a basis for evidence generation, accountability, grassroots advocacy and sustainable peacebuilding.