UNESCO sounds the alarm on global spike in attacks on education

Paris  – On the International Day for the Protection of Education against Attack, UNESCO expresses its deep concern about the growing impact of conflict on education.

According to a study by the Global Coalition for Protecting Education from Attack, of which UNESCO is a member, 6,000 attacks against students, professionals and educational institutions, including 1,000 cases of military use of these institutions, were recorded worldwide in 2022-2023 – an average of 8 per day. This represents a 20% increase on the previous two years. More than 10,000 students and educators are believed to have been victims.

While these attacks on education affect all regions of the world, they are much more frequent in countries currently experiencing armed conflict, foremost among them Myanmar, the Middle East and Gaza in particular, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen.

As the United Nations agency responsible for education, UNESCO reminds all parties involved in these conflicts that they should comply with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2601, and calls on all states to implement the recommendations of the Safe Schools Declaration designed to prevent such attacks.

UNESCO works to provide psychosocial support for pupils and teachers confronted with violent phenomena, notably in Palestine, Sudan and Ukraine. To ensure continuity of learning when a school is closed for security reasons, the Organization also provides alternative education solutions such as distance-learning, by training teachers in digital pedagogies and facilitating the production and dissemination of educational content through the media.

The Organization also works with its partners to improve data collection on attacks on education, to facilitate systematic prevention.