22 FMR 15

Education: protecting the rights of displaced children by Suba Mahalingam UNICEF and its partners work with displaced com- In a crisis following the displacement of large numbers of people, the deliv- munities to provide material assistance and ery of humanitarian assistance is often fraught with difficulties. In protection, using as their basis the UN Convention Liberia, UNICEF has established child- 1 friendly spaces in camps for IDPs to on the Rights of the Child and other international enable focused services for children and to provide a sense of security legal instruments. Education has proven a valuable amidst the chaos of conflict. This was tool in this effort, not only making children aware of accomplished by allocating a safe haven in the displaced camp and pro- their rights but also providing a way to participate in viding a range of services, such as early childhood care, nutrition, immu- the realisation of these rights. nisation, psychosocial support and primary education. Mothers are able ducation should be a key part of violence and retribution. In some to care for their infants in safe areas programming and planning for countries, UNICEF is maintaining data- and children can come together to E displacement. Every effort bases of children enrolled in school to play and learn. Teacher emergency should be made to immediately estab- monitor and prevent recruitment. packages and UNICEF’s ‘school-in-a- lish or restore educational Education is also an essential compo- box’ have been provided, supplying programmes. In the first weeks of an nent of successful disarmament, crayons, books, slates and teaching 3 emergency, education may be simply demobilisation and reintegration aids. Teachers and nurses have been organised ‘play’, giving children a (DDR) programmes for children. trained from among the local dis- sense of structure and daily routine. School attendance is a deterrent to re- placed populations to assist in Any available shelter can serve as a recruitment because it provides organising schooling and health care. temporary classroom – under a tree, a stability and also lays the groundwork tent, in a cave – where a child can par- for children's ticipate in organised activities. reintegration in the child-friendly spaces approach… promotes However, education in an emergency communities, must be more than a stop-gap mea- through access participation of children and communities sure and should be designed to evolve to catch-up edu- and expand into a sustainable educa- cation and vocational training. The key to the success of the child- tion system. friendly spaces approach is that it Education can give the support and promotes participation of children Schools can help monitor the status guidance children need to be pro- and communities. It provides a frame- of displaced children to ensure that active within their communities. work for a coordinated effort their rights are being fulfilled. Children learn literacy and emergency involving community leaders, parents, Displacement makes it difficult to skills. UNICEF supports education of teachers and children and helps guar- obtain information on whether chil- displaced children on landmines, antee children’s rights to survival, dren have access to basic services. HIV/AIDS prevention, gender sensitivi- development, participation and pro- This is more daunting for groups dis- ties, child rights and life skills. tection. placed in a variety of non-camp Schools have also been used as entry settings. Teachers at schools can keep points for psychosocial programming, Education for landmines track of the needs of their students even a key element of such program- awareness in Eritrea and facilitate screening for children ming. who need special assistance. Schools Landmines are a particular threat to can also ensure nutritional needs by Child-friendly spaces in children fleeing into unknown territo- serving meals to students. Liberia ry. Children are especially at risk as they may stray into nearby fields and Education can help prevent children Child-friendly spaces are an innova- paths, looking for firewood, water or being recruited as fighters through a tive concept of protection for simply a place to play. They may not curriculum that teaches non-violent displaced children and their mothers. recognise warning signs around conflict resolution and facilitates First established in 1999 to provide mined areas and their natural peace building. However, schools may integrated care for children in curiosity may even encourage them to be potential targets for recruitment Albanian refugee camps, they have investigate the sometimes colourful activities by armed groups. Measures been successfully adapted to serve the and curious designs of mines and must be taken to prevent the politici- needs of war-affected children in unexploded ordnance. sation of schools and ensure that Angola, East Timor, Guinea and, most schooling helps to stop the cycle of recently, Liberia.2 FMR 15 Education: protecting the rights of displaced children 23

In Eritrea, UNICEF has Education… cannot be put off until the conflict is over established approach to pro- partnerships with a number of inter- gramming national NGOs to conduct mine risk whereby the education within displaced and host water and sanita- communities in Gash Barka and tion team sought Debub. Mine risk education teams not just to pro- have been trained and equipped by vide the camp the Eritrean Demining Agency, with with water ser- UNICEF support. These efforts have vices but to fulfil enabled further training and the the rights of dis- establishment of regional teams of placed persons. community facilitators. Discussions with the demining agency are also Education can underway to start a school-based give girls greater mine awareness project. Another confidence and milestone in mine risk education is self-esteem. It the active involvement of children’s can also provide theatre groups. For example, the Sewit practical knowl- Children’s Theatre group was com- edge about missioned to tour communities in hygiene and Eritrea to provide landmine aware- health care and ness. The strength of this example increase their lies in its multi-faceted approach. The chances of secur- message is conveyed not just through ing a livelihood, workshops by mine risk education while decreasing teams but is also integrated into regu- the possibilities lar schooling and made interesting of exploitation. and interactive through theatre.4 Yet despite these

benefits, it is esti- UNHCR/B Neeleman Empowering displaced girls mated that only 1 through education in 10 refugee girls attends class: sig- recent Afghanistan crisis, the ‘back-to- nificantly fewer than boys. Girls are school’ campaign succeeded in getting For girls, the problems of displace- often kept at home to perform house- 1.5 million children to return to ment are compounded. Girls are at hold chores or their parents may fear school in 2002 and also transformed special risk of abuse, exploitation and for their safety in walking to and and revitalised an education system sexual violence. The stress and ten- from the classroom. If parents are that had been inaccessible to girls for sion of refugee camps increase the unable to send all their children to many years. likelihood of domestic violence. school, girls are more likely to be Poorly planned camps can create inse- excluded. Cultural practices, such as For displaced persons who have lost cure and isolated spaces where girls early marriage, may also become their home and possessions, educa- are vulnerable to rape. Children who obstacles to girls’ education. Education tion can restore hope and resilience, have lost parents may be left to look programmes must address these con- while providing the essential tools after and provide for younger sib- cerns and create an environment that needed to build a more peaceful and lings. Overwhelming poverty and encourages the participation of girls. just society. limited economic opportunities may force them into prostitution and leave Conclusion Suba Mahalingam works for them exposed to abuse, even by those UNICEF in Sri Lanka. Emergencies can be used to introduce employed to protect them. Email: [email protected] new approaches, teaching methods and curriculum reform so that educa- In Somalia, while distributing sanita- 1. See: www.unicef.org/crc/crc.htm tion contributes to protecting tion tools in an IDP camp, the UNICEF displaced children and promoting 2. See: www.unicef.org/media/newsnotes/ water and sanitation team discovered 02nn05liberia.htm social justice and human rights. that many of the women and girls Monitoring and evaluation of pro- 3. For details, see www.supply.unicef.dk/emergen- lacked even basic literacy and life grammes are essential to analyse their cies/schoolkit.htm skills. To address this issue, UNICEF impact and ensure that protection and an NGO women’s network initiat- 4. For more details of UNICEF’s Eritrea pro- needs, such as psychosocial support, gramme, see: www.unicef.org/emerg/Country/ ed a pilot literacy project. Literacy landmine awareness, HIV/AIDS pre- Eritrea/011212.PDF and life skills training were provided vention, child rights and life skills, to women and young girls in the 5. For more details of UNICEF’s Somalia pro- are integrated into education in emer- gramme, see: www.unicef.org/somalia/ camp. The project built on traditional gencies. Education must be a pillar of practices and used non-formal educa- 6. See UNICEF Afghanistan’s newsletter for details: programming for displaced children. www.unicef.org/noteworthy/afghanistan/paishraft- tional materials developed by the It cannot be put off until the conflict july2002.pdf UNICEF education programme. This is over. Education also can help sta- case exemplifies the rights-based bilise a country in conflict. In the