Protect the right to education of girls and boys that still live today in situations of armed conflict. But how to ensure the safety of schools in conflict zones in a context aggravated by the pandemic? The representatives of international and national institutions, civil society and the academic community are asked to answer these and other questions during the Webinar “Children affected by Armed Conflict: safeguarding their right to education and ensuring schools are safe” co-organized by ‘Universities Network for Children in Armed Conflict and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and co-sponsored by Norway and the Group of Friends of Children and Armed Conflict (Caac), as part of the 46th Session of the Rights Council United Nations humans.
The online meeting, which takes place on March 9 from 14:00 to 15:00, is a public opportunity to analyze scientific and legal tools that can help mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on the education of girls and boys in armed conflict. Among the speakers are the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Marina Sereni; the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflicts Virginia Gamba; representatives of the Network, International Organizations and Civil Society, including Unicef, Save the Children, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva Call and Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (Gcpa).
“Let’s work together to ensure that more and more states are at this time of health emergency approves the Declaration on Safe Schools launched in 2015 – already approved, to date, by 107 Member States of the United Nations – also adopting the guidelines on the protection of schools and universities from military use in armed conflict “observes Laura Guercio, representative of the Network and webinar moderator. “The right to education of children, protected by international humanitarian law, must be ensured and respected so that boys and girls in situations of armed conflict do not suffer all the consequences of the conflict and have the future to which they are entitled “adds Fausto Pocar, representative of the Network and speaker at the Webinar.