When one thinks about the need to respond to a humanitarian emergency such as an earthquake or war, the first thing that comes to mind is that the population needs food, shelter, water or sanitation. They are logical and urgent priorities, but not the only ones.
Education, a right already taken for granted in most parts of the world, becomes an unattainable desire for boys and girls when it competes with other needs in a crisis context. And yet for them, going to school and continuing to learn is a reprieve and a life jacket. “Between the bombs, the attacks, the fear and the insecurity, being able to continue going to school was my only salvation,” says Aleks, a 14-year-old boy from the city of Kherson.
There they not only train, but also interact with their classmates, they are in a space where they are cared for and protected from further violence such as human trafficking or kidnapping, and they can freely share their experiences. There is a certain normality in the daily chaos. Therefore, the right to education should be one of the first things to regain childhood in these situations.
Ukraine has been at war for two years. During this period, 3,798 schools were damaged by attacks and 365 were completely destroyed, accounting for 13% of educational infrastructure. In addition, the need in this area increased by 30% between 2022 and 2023.
At the same time, education spending reached 5% of the country's GDP in 2023, an increase of 14.3% compared to the previous year. That is, the state continued to support this sector despite the conflict. To the public investments are added the funds provided by the international community, which have reached 100 million euros, an amount that has managed to cover 71% of the identified needs. These international investments have made Ukraine the crisis country with the largest foreign funding in the education sector.
Thanks to all these investments and the priority given to education at national and international levels, improvements with real impact have been achieved. For example, since January 2023, the proportion of schools with shelters has increased from 68% to 80%, while the proportion of schools offering fully in-person learning has increased from 25% to 57%. These two advances have a positive impact on the lives of children and young people by providing them with safe and protective centers that return them to the routine they knew and longed for.
Education accounted for only 4% of total humanitarian appeals, while the Global Campaign for Education calls for a percentage of 10% to respond adequately.
In addition, Ukraine is the crisis country best positioned to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), which aims to ensure equitable, inclusive and quality education. In particular, it has achieved the literacy indicator and the secondary school completion indicator, although some challenges remain, such as the primary school enrollment rate.
In the case of Ukraine, is the international commitment to the right to education the same in all countries experiencing emergency situations? The answer is no. Quite the opposite: of the 35 countries and territories with humanitarian calls for assistance in 2023, 88% (30 of them) are completely or very far from achieving SDG4, and for four there is not even information (Lebanon, Haiti, Somalia and Libya).
The funding gap for education in emergencies has continued to grow. While educational needs have increased sevenfold over the last decade, disbursements have only increased fourfold. To date, only 4% of total humanitarian appeals have been addressed to education, while the Global Campaign for Education calls for a figure of 10% to respond adequately. With such low economic commitment from international organizations and donor countries, educational deficits are a burden and the situation is getting worse from year to year. In 2023, 80% of crises have received less than half of the resources needed to address them. Education is not seen as something urgent when it is. It goes unnoticed among the donors. If you compare all sectors according to financing volume, it takes tenth place. Only the sum of the five areas – food security, health, water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter and multi-sector areas – received more than 65% of all funding in 2023. In short, education is the first right to be lost and the last right to be recovered.
It is clear that we are not providing an effective response and this will have consequences in the short, medium and long term. The more than 78 million children and young people affected by a crisis who are not attending school today know this. Taking into account that these emergencies have already lasted an average of nine years and compulsory education is an average of six years, this number will continue to rise, leaving entire generations without the acquisition of basic skills.
Not receiving an education and not receiving it of high quality is a violation of a fundamental right and an enabling right of others. In the absence of it, all children are exposed to a range of risks, such as work, child marriage or migration. It is a priority for children. And we don't say it. The evidence shows that communities, and particularly children and young people, prioritize this issue over other issues in emergency situations.
Although the data shows that education is largely forgotten in times of crisis, it also makes clear that the situation can be reversed. Ukraine is the example, the unique case, that teaches us that with the will and commitment of the government, combined with the commitment of the international community, important progress can be made in a traditionally marginalized area. Let us make the exception the rule and commit ourselves to the present and future of childhood by focusing on the right to education.
Paula San Pedro de Urquiza is author of the report “Education in emergencies: a lifeline” and coordinator of the advocacy sector of the NGO Educo.
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