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More than 22,000 students, teachers, and academics were injured, killed, or harmed in attacks on education during armed conflict or insecurity over the past five years, according to Education under Attack 2020, a new 300-page report published today by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA).

A coalition of global children’s charities - led by Theirworld - has accused world leaders of displaying a “gross failure of political leadership” after they failed to prioritise education at a major conference on the future of Syria. The coalition said it was disappointed the international community had been unable to renew its commitment to the education of Syrian refugee children at yesterday’

It took a global pandemic and stay-at-home orders for 1.5 billion people worldwide, but something is finally occurring to us: The future we thought we expected may not be the one we get. We know that things will change; how they’ll change is a mystery.

The Syria crisis is in its tenth year; approaching the length of the combination of World Wars I and II. The crisis has wreaked havoc across the region.

When the Covid-19 pandemic began sweeping across the planet, there was a lot the world did not know about its impact on children. Could they get sick? Could they transmit the virus? Were schools safe? We have since learned quite a bit. We have learned that children are not the main drivers of the epidemic across countries.

The General Assembly proclaimed 9 September the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, adopting a resolution that reaffirms the right to education for all and the importance of ensuring safe, enabling learning environments in humanitarian emergencies.

When armed men on motorcycles tore up to a school in Béléhédé village in Burkina Faso’s Sahel region in early 2018, panic ensued. “I was in class when the terrorists came. ... They fired a shot, and we all fled to save ourselves,” said Boureima S. (not his real name), a 14-year-old student at the time. “Afterwards, when we went back there, I saw they had burned the principal’s motorcycle...

Some children feel safe and protected. Others are scared. And yet, many also find joy in play, and even silliness. These are children of the global pandemic.

The COVID-19 outbreak has translated into a major education due to school closure and the interruption of regular education services. In the Arab region, where 13 million children and youth are already out-of-school due to conflict, an additional 100 million learners are now affected by school interruption.

Reports of domestic violence have fallen dramatically in fragile and conflict-affected countries since the introduction of lockdowns aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. According to new data from the International Rescue Committee, reports of abuse have decreased by 50% in Bangladesh and 30% in Tanzania as a result of restrictions on mobility, lack of information,