Attacks on Education and Education Clusters

What are attacks on education?

Global definition of attacks on education serves as an international reference for guiding documentation and reporting these incidents. The most common definitions include the UN Security Council Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on Grave Violations against Children in Situations of Armed Conflict (MRM) and the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attacks (GCPEA).

The UN Security Council Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM)
The Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) was established by the UN Security Council to track six grave violations against children in armed conflicts. These violations include:

1. Killing and Maiming of Children
2. Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers
3. Sexual Violence against Children
4. Abduction of Children
5. Attacks on Schools and Hospitals
6. Denial of Humanitarian Access

The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attacks (GCPEA)

GCPEA defines attacks on education as "any intentional threat or use of force—carried out for political, military, ideological, sectarian, ethnic, or religious reasons—against students, educators, and education institutions."

GCPEA also proposes 6 categories to classify attacks on education:

1. Attacks on schools
2. Attacks on students, teachers, and other education personnel
3. Child recruitment at, or on the way to or from, school
4. Military use of schools and universities
5. Sexual violence at, or on the way to or from, school or university
6. Attacks on higher education

For more details about the categories, see GCPEA’s latest report Education under Attack 2024, pp. 79-84.

Attacks on schools are a critical concern because they not only destroy educational infrastructure but also disrupt children's access to education and safety. These attacks can be deliberate or incidental, impacting both the physical and psychological well-being of students and educators.

Why is the GEC looking at them?

As part of efforts to establish a more systematic approach to respond to attacks on education at all stages of the humanitarian programme cycle, in line with the cluster’s core functions, the Global Education Cluster initiated work on attacks on education.

To date, this workstream defined the scope and purpose of country clusters engagement related to the monitoring, reporting, to ensure efficient and well-coordinated responses to the consequences of attacks on children’s learning, safety, well-being and access to education.

The GEC has developed a guidance note that defines the roles and scope of education clusters as well as opportunities and limitations clusters and their partners should consider when monitoring, reporting, and responding to attacks on education. (See below in the Resource Section)

The Systematising Approaches for Attacks on Education Guidance Note is built around the HPC phases to ensure a consistent integration of attacks on education throughout the HPC. For each section, it provides examples, key points to consider and resources. The document is now available in English, French, and Spanish.

The GEC has been rolling out the guidance and developed templates to support Education Clusters to integrate or strengthen their approaches to attacks on education. To date, the main queries have been around resource mobilization and advocacy, needs assessment and analysis, and strategic planning. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

Further information

For further information and updated data on attacks on education, we invite you to visit the below websites from key stakeholders involved in this field.

• Safe School Declaration:  An inter-governmental political commitment to protect students, teachers, schools, and universities from the worst effects of armed conflicts
• GCPEA: Education Under Attack 2024:  Report and Map
• The MRM is established in country situations where parties to conflict have been listed in the annexes of the annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict. For the most updated annexes, you can refer to the last Secretary-General annual report, which provides detailed information regarding its implementation.