Education in Emergencies

Forging resilience with equity in lifelong learning

Dr. Chemba Raghavan, UNICEF EAPRO4 May 2017

Outline of Presentation

• Overview of Concepts. EiE: Preparedness (in service of Response), Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), and Resilience

• Why focus on Education in Emergencies?• What is the global evidence telling us?

What are some Global commitments and frameworks?

• What is the Regional situation? What are some regional platforms/coalitions and frameworks?

• Country examples of Education in Emergencies

• Summary and takeaways

Definition of Education in Emergencies (EiE)

•Provision of quality education opportunities that meet the physical protection, psychosocial, developmental and cognitive needs of children and people affected by emergencies, which can be both life-sustaining and life-saving

What is Resilience?

Resilience“the ability of children, households, communities, and systems to anticipate, prevent, adapt to, withstand, and overcome stresses and shocks in ways which advance the rights of every child, with special attention to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.”

In short:“the capacity to anticipate, manage and overcome

shocks and cumulative stresses”---------

Preparedness, DRR, & Resilience

DRR

Resilience

Preparedness

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Multi Hazard: Disaster/Conflict/EpidemicsApplies to UNICEF/Inter-Agency /Government/ Communities

Wider than preparedness as it also includes wider prevention and mitigation (such as safe schools) to reduce impact of a disaster. Needs to be gender responsive

Wider than DRR as it refers to multiple shocks & stresses including disasters, climate, conflict. It is the desired outcome of DRR, Climate Change Adaptation & Peace Building programming .

Why focus on Education in Emergencies?

Short Term Benefits• Education in all contexts is a RIGHT• Education can offer Protection during emergencies• Communities resonate with Education as a priority platform• Can provide Psychosocial support• Literacy and Numeracy enhanced• Many people are equipped with basic lifeskills

Long Term Benefits• Evidence from neuroscience• Can impact attitudes and social norms, breaks down

conventional barriers• Particularly in crisis, can serve to build peace• Equity: Can reach the most vulnerable when systems break

down: Refugees, displaced, children returning home, children staying, children with no caregivers

Global Evidence on Education and Resilience; Education and DRR

ESCAP MARCH 2015

1. Further Evidence for South-East AsiaIncreasing Number of disasters…And the opportunity to do things differently!

Environmental Degradation

Natural HazardsSlow and Sudden Conflict & protracted crisis

Economic downturns & food price hikes

Epidemics

Multiple and overlapping hazards

Vulnerability and the need to address ECD in Emergencies

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Characteristics of a person, community, system or asset

which make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard

Children’s vulnerabilities are good indicators of larger vulnerabilities in society…

Children have special needs and vulnerabilities.

Disasters in early childhood can cause “Toxic Stress” Can Have a Lifelong Impact

POSITIVEBrief increase in heart rate, mild elevation in stress hormone,

Cortisol

TOLERABLESerious temporary stress responses, buffered by supportive

relationships

TOXICProlonged activation of stress response systems, in the absence of

protective relationships

So, what does the global research point to…?

• DRR for all becomes a national and local priority

• Different risks faced by children, youth and women are identified and addressed

• Build safer and more resilient conditions

• Strengthened humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery through capacity development

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Child-Centered DRR:• Focus on specific risks faced by

children.• Involves children in DRR efforts

and initiatives.

What Guiding Global Frameworks and Strategies exist?

Reducing risk and vulnerability to disasters requires people to understand how they can best protect themselves, their property and their livelihoods

“What people know is more important than what they have when it comes to saving lives and reducing loss”

UNESCO Policy Brief on DRR in Education

Education for sustainable development (ESD) is explicitly recognized in the SDGs as part of Target 4.7 of the SDG on education

)

Education as cross-cutting issue for Disaster Risk Reduction

Relevant descriptions are embedded in the four priorities for action

Guided by international human rights law, in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child ….also by international humanitarian law.

The CCCs reaffirm that advocacy to protect the rights of children and women is an integral part of humanitarian action.

Regional Situation: Disasters in Asia and the Pacific region

1,625 reported disaster events (2005-2014)

among 3,979 globally

Approximately 500,000 people lost their lives (accounting for 60% of

global total)

Around 1.4 billion people were affected (accounting

for 80% of global total)

$523 billion worth of economic damage

(accounting for 45% of global damage)

Regional Situation: Why do this and Why now?

Conflict and Insecurity• 2nd largest no. of fragile and conflict stricken states and regions after

Africa.

• Many countries recently emerged from or still confronting some form of conflict, insecurity, violence or social/political unrest: Indonesia, Myanmar, PNG, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Thailand and Timor Leste.

• Several countries with high rates of poverty

• Some are geographically and politically isolated, with weak economies, governance structures and capacity to address shocks: Pacific Islands.

• Attacks on schools Southern Thailand, Philippinesonesia, Myanmar.

What guiding REGIONAL frameworks exist for EiE? The Bangkok Statement, Putrajaya Declaration on ECCE

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SDG 4: “Ensure equitable and inclusive quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030”

Bangkok Statement, APREC“We commit ourselves to addressing all forms of marginalization, as well as disparities and

inequalities, especially gender inequality, in access to education and learning processes and outcomes, including in conflict and crisis situations.

**** Climate change, environment degradation explicitly acknowledged

Putrajaya Declaration on ECD“Put in place integrated and inclusive legislation, policies and programmes that realize the provision of at least one year of free and compulsory quality pre-primary education, paying special attention to the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children”

***Vulnerabilities due to disasters and conflicts explicitly acknowledged

Marching Orders for the Education Sector

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Ensure • All programmes are risk informed

• All children have access to safe learning facilities

• DRR, CCA, peacebuilding and conflict sensitive education are provided to children in and outside of schools

• DRR and disaster management are mainstreamed in education sector development plans and planning processes

• Communication and C4D utilised to build regional momentum for DRR in education

Goals of DRR in Education

• Integration of disaster risk analysis and DRR measures into education sector development policy, planning and financing obligations

• UNICEF and partners promote three commonly accepted goals: 1. promotion of DRR in teaching and learning; 2. provision of safe school environments; and 3. promotion of school safety and disaster management.

KEY TAKEAWAYS for the EDUCATION SECTOR • Focus on ECD in Emergencies• Focus on adolescents and young people, as partners and • Focus on Communities as partners

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The Role of Communities and Life-long Learning

Disaster management is a continuous process and has no specific end point.

Adopting a lifelong learning approach in the context of disaster management education will be solution to update the knowledge and skills.*

This means paying attention to DRR from ECD to adult education.

*Lifelong Learning needs for Disaster Management Education in the Built Environment, the University of

Salford

© UNESCO / Bernardo Aliaga2014 Simulation exercise for the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions.

What Regional Mechanisms for Action do we have?

• The Inter-Agency Standing Committee Cluster for Education in Emergencies: United Nations efforts to improve effectiveness of humanitarian relief.

• At the country level, the cluster’s task to:• clarify roles, responsibilities and accountability of United Nations and

other partners working to restore schooling in specific crises. • seek to improve coordination among partners working to rebuild

education systems in the early recovery period

• Asian Ministerial Conference on DRR is a platform

• 2015 Education Cluster Training on: Cluster Coordination, IM, Rapid needs assessment

• EiE training, NRC: June 2015• ASEAN PDNA training, Bangkok:

June 2015

International and Regional Coalitions

Global Alliance for Disaster Risk reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GAD3RES) Asia Pacific Coalition for School Safety (APCSS)Asia Pacific Resilience in Education Group (APREG)ASEAN Safe School Initiative (ASSI)

The ASEAN Common Framework

for Comprehensive School Safety

COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL SAFETY (CSS) FRAMEWORK, to support World Wide Initiative for Safe Schools and GADRRRES

Regional Guidance on Education and Resilience

• Assist governments, Ministries of Education (MoEs), education agencies and communities in East Asia and the Pacific

• To develop policies and programmes to strengthen DRR and resilience of their education systems in promoting social cohesion and comprehensive school safety.

• Present a set of recommendations from which education sector actors can select those approaches and strategies that best serve their unique contexts.

Nine Priority Paths for Education Sector Planning

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1. Preparedness should be in the DNA of Education Plans: Conduct risk assessment and conflict/situation analysis

2. Include C/DRR in education sector planning and budgeting

3. Incorporate comprehensive school safety framework in planning

4. Implement comprehensive curriculum and textbook reform for social cohesion and school safety

5. Improve access to safe and equitable education

6. Conduct monitoring and evaluation of C/DRR

7. Strengthen coordination and networks

8. Strengthen education governance and local participation

9. Strengthen capacity development in C/DRR

Examples from some countries in our Region:China

Action• UNICEF and MOE, worked on pilots to

policy to scale. • Safe Schools Facilities and construction• School Disaster management• Disaster prevention Education

Results• Integrated safety education into school

curricula and retrofitting of schools;• Strengthened capacity of administrators

for emergency planning and preparedness;

• Development of a number of guidelines on safer school construction and school safety management

Examples from some countries in our Region:Philippines, Fiji

Actions• The Philippine government, with support

from Plan and UNICEF, developed the capacity assessment tool ‘Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) in Disasters’

• For older children, back to school campaigns

• Removing conditionality of Cash transfers/Emergency CT programs

Challenges• Subnational implementation • Coordination

Actions during TC Winston• Prioritising Emotional Wellbeing for children

after emergencies (Storybooks, drawing, support)

• Again, start with ECD! And then to older kids• Supplementary feeding in schools to ensure

continued learning• 6 months later: Recovery through Play• Challenges• Implementation• Remoteness

Examples from some countries in our Region:Thailand, MyanmarActions• Thailand School Safety Network• Institutional capacity strengthened for DRR

and CSS• South South cooperation with Lao to use

mobile technology to strengthen data collection from remote areas

Challenges• Implementation at subnational levels• Cross-sectoral coordination

Myanmar

Actions

• Technical Assistance

• School based disaster management

• Education in conflict

Challenges

• Floods, landslides and earthquakes kill teachers and students and damage or destroy schools and School materials, Getting children back in school is often not viewed as a priority in reconstruction efforts.

• Gender an issue: Girls may be held back. Or boys may be forced to quit education because of differential social norms

• Schools are also vulnerable during civil conflicts. Schools may be used as barracks or emergency health centres. Or schools are often targeted in attacks.

Summary• Structural measures for schools to withstand impacts of

disasters can protect children and their right to education

• School-based programmes and disaster management including early warning systems enhance disaster preparedness. These have to be focused on very young children as well as adolescents, have to be gender responsive, and should include children with disabilities.

• Risk reduction and resilience education through formal, informal and non formal contexts (including focus on early childhood and adolescence, and for example youth-led community risk mapping) can accelerate progress towards education and sustainable development.

• Issues pertaining to gender, disabilities, children from poorer families, children in vulnerable contexts and very young children need attention.

In closing: Children need to be at the center of Education and DRR plans

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High Disaster Impacts and Losses need to be acknowledged!

Children’s Needs and vulnerabilities need to be addressed through social protection,ECD!

Children’s Untapped Capacities need to be developed from early childhood through adolescence and beyond!

Children’s Rights – reflected in Commitments need to be upheld! LIFELONG Learning!

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