The Role of NGOs in Major Development Initiatives
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Education: A Casualty of War
By Eluned Schweitzer, Director, Education for Children in Conflict Senior Education Advisor Save the Children US
Countries in conflict have a disproportionate number of children out of school. Although the number of out-of-school, primary-age children in the world has dramatically fallen from 100 million to 77 million in recent years, the situation in countries affected by conflict has seen little improvement. Indeed, war-torn nations alone are home to 39 million children who may never see the inside of a classroom. Unless we can connect with these children, our prospects of achieving the Millennium Development Goal of primary education for all by 2015 will remain grossly out of reach.
Lack of funding, school closings and teacher attritition are all endemic to countries in conflict. This puts children at risk, making them easier targets for recruitment as child soldiers or exploitation as cheap labor. It also increases their vulnerability to trafficking and abuse.
Donors are reluctant to commit educational funds to unstable countries where traditional conflict-induced priorities may steer donations to food security and basic infrastructure projects, where corruption may be high and where investment risks are correspondingly great. Thus international educational assistance on education is more likely to be given to stable countries, overlooking conflict-ridden states and leaving them with little hope of breaking the cycle of poverty and conflict. For example, in the Sudanese region of Darfur, over 50 percent of children are out of school, but almost no funding has been provided specifically for education. The difference between giving every single child the chance to go to school by 2015 and leaving millions behind is $9 billion a year.
To ensure that the Millennium Development Goal for primary education is met for all children, Save the Children has joined other InterAction members in calling for donors and multilateral agencies to increase their commitments to educate children in conflict-affected countries.
To bring greater awareness to the issue, Save the Children also has launched a new initiative called Rewrite the Future that seeks to help conflict-affected countries meet their educational goals. Not only is education essential to protecting children during conflict, it is also a critical element in helping rebuild nations in the aftermath of conflict and is a key to alleviating poverty and reducing the risks of perpetual conflict.
Without renewed efforts to educate children in areas of conflict, tens of millions of children will grow up with an opportunity to realize their full potential.
