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Introduction

In 2022 and 2023, the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) identified around 6,000 reported attacks on education or cases of military use of education facilities in 28 countries. These incidents damaged, destroyed, or forced the closure of schools and universities, and directly harmed over 10,000 students and teachers.

Many of the children, youth, and educators affected by such attacks faced obstacles to safe learning beyond war. In 2022 and 2023, over two-thirds of conflict-affected countries with attacks on education were also experiencing an extremely high risk of climate and environmental hazards for children, according to UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index.

Similar to attacks on education, both slow and sudden onset climate events have damaged, destroyed, or closed learning facilities and inflicted physical and mental harm on students and educators in recent years. For example, in Sudan, after conflict erupted in 2023, schools shuttered nationally, and hundreds of education facilities were damaged, according to the UN. Then, a year later, in June 2024, flooding damaged dozens of schools and disrupted learning for over 23,000 children who had just resumed classes. When confronted with multiple hazards, communities and education systems are less able to absorb shocks, inhibiting the continuity of teaching and learning, particularly in fragile contexts.

This briefing paper argues that the risks and impacts of climate change are critical to consider within any effort to prevent, mitigate, or respond to attacks on education. In the face of these converging crises, states should act urgently to protect education in the context of climate change. The number of complex emergencies and scale of humanitarian needs are growing, a trend that will likely continue with increasing global temperatures and protracted conflicts. The mounting rate of attacks on education – a 20 percent increase in 2022-2023 as compared to the 2020-2021 period – is just one indication of rising needs for action.

Summary of Key Findings

• Some attacks on education can be linked to climate, such as: looting of school canteens, attacks on schools used as temporary disaster relief shelters, and increased risks of explosives moving near schools after flooding.
• Flooding, tropical storms, and extreme heat are the climate-induced risks most commonly impacting countries that experience attacks on education.
• School communities experience similar impacts from these converging crises, including school closures, damage and destruction of education facilities, and mental and physical harm; girls and people with disabilities are differentially impacted by both types of hazards, including being less likely to access education after an attack or climate event.
• Good practices exist to address both attacks on education and the climate crisis including:
  • Implementation and monitoring of holistic school safety policies and plans;
  • Data collection efforts that collect impact and incidence of both attacks on education and climate;
  • Building or repairing learning spaces to withstand both climate and conflict hazards;
  • Strengthening of international laws and norms to protect education in the context of climate change.

Source

https://reliefweb.int/report/world/protecting-education-attack-context-climate-change