EDUCATION AND CONFLICT MITIGATION: WHAT THE AID WORKERS SAY Dana Burde Amy Kapit-Spitalny Rachel Wahl Ozen Guven EDUCATION AND CONFLICT MITIGATION: WHAT THE AID WORKERS SAY1 by Dana Burde, Amy Kapit-Spitalny, Rachel Wahl, and Ozen Guven2 ABSTRACT In February 2011, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) finalized a new strategy for its work in education around the world. Of its three key goals, the third goal focuses on “access to education in crisis and conflict environments,” establishing the first explicit reference to the impact of crises on education, and of education on crises, for USAID initiatives. With this change, USAID underscores the importance of supporting education programs for conflict-affected populations. To administer effective programs that are not detrimental to the populations they aim to serve, it is important to gain a deeper understanding of current programs and of the ways education and violent conflict interact. In this paper we seek to answer the following questions: What is the relationship between education and conflict? How might education mitigate conflict? Toward this end, what works and what does not in program interventions? We gather practitioner knowledge of the relationship between education and conflict mitigation to prepare USAID education officers to design, implement, and monitor “education in emergencies” programs and to respond better to partners’ needs in the field. 1 Acknowledgments: This paper was commissioned and funded by the United States Agency for International Development. The authors thank Anita Anastacio, Allison Anderson, Alberto Begue, Lori Heninger, Elisabeth King, Kate Lapham, Yolande Miller-Grandvaux, Jeanne Moulton, Christine Pagen, Nina Papadopoulos, Marion Pratt, Pilar Robledo, and Jennifer Sklar for their insightful comments on an earlier draft, and we express our deepest gratitude to the 17 educator-aid workers who took time to respond to the questions we posed. The authors’ views expressed in this publication are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. 2 Dana Burde is an Assistant Professor of International Education at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and an Affiliated Research Scholar at Columbia University’s Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies. Amy Kapit-Spitalny and Rachel Wahl are PhD candidates at NYU Steinhardt, and Ozen Guven is a PhD student at NYU Steinhardt. For correspondence about the paper, please contact Dana Burde, [email protected]. Education and Conflict Mitigation: TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................................................. i I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 II. BACKGROUND: Historical roots and tensions ......................................................... 5 A. Historical Roots and Tensions ....................................................................................................... 5 B. The Rise of Education in Emergencies and Its Relationship to Conflict Mitigation ........ 5 III. WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF CONFLICT? ............................................................. 9 A. The Greed and Grievance Paradigm: Motivations and Opportunities ................................ 9 B. Limitations to the Greed and Grievance Model and Links to Education ........................... 9 IV. HOW DOES CONFLICT AFFECT EDUCATION? And what to do about it ........14 A. Danger at School ..............................................................................................................................15 B. Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Schools, and Under-attendance of Girls ......................15 C. Effects of Trauma on Learning .......................................................................................................16 D. Diminished Quality ...........................................................................................................................17 What the Aid Workers Say ii 1. INTRODUCTION V. HOW DOES EDUCATION AFFECT CONFLICT? And what to do about it ........18 A. Educational Content and Teachers: Negative Effects on Conflict ........................................18 B. Access: Negative Effects on Conflict .......................................................................................... 20 C. Community Engagement: Mixed Effects on Conflict ...............................................................21 D. Corruption: Negative Effects on Conflict ................................................................................. 22 E. Government Legitimacy: Negative Effects on Conflict .......................................................... 23 VI. INTERVIEW DATA: What the Aid Workers Say ......................................................24 A. Successful and Unsuccessful Patterns Among Programs ....................................................... 25 B. Include Community, Understand Context, Allow Time and Flexibility ............................. 25 C. Include Education in Humanitarian Response, Improve Coordination and Funding ........27 D. Training and USAID Competencies ............................................................................................ 29 E. Corruption .........................................................................................................................................31 F. Conflict Mitigation ............................................................................................................................32 VII. INTEGRATING PRIMARY & SECONDARY DATA: Research Recommendations ........................................................................................35 VIII. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .........................................................38 A. Summary of What Works ............................................................................................................. 38 B. Program Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 38 REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................................41 ATTACHMENTS .....................................................................................................................52 1. Interview Protocol ...........................................................................................................................52 2. List of Respondents ....................................................................................................................... 54 iii Education and Conflict Mitigation: 1. INTRODUCTION In February 2011, the United States Agency for to partners’ needs in the field. International Development (USAID) finalized a new strategy for its work in education around the Research on the relationship between education world. Of its three key goals, the third goal fo- and violent conflict to date has focused mainly cuses on “access to education in crisis and conflict on the way conflict reduces access to education environments,” establishing USAID’s first explicit (Bensalah, Sinclair, Nacer, Commisso, & Bokhari, reference to the impact of crises on education, 2000; Sinclair, 2001)4 and secondarily on the way and of education on crises. With this change, US- education exacerbates conflict (Bush & Saltarelli, AID underscores the importance of supporting 2000). More recent research focuses on the re- education programs for conflict-affected popula- lationship between education and conflict mitiga- tions. To administer effective programs that are tion (Barakat & Urdal, 2009). In addition, because not detrimental to the populations they aim to weak states are considered to play a key role in serve and, moreover, to work to mitigate conflict, creating conflict, a new but significant body of it is important to gain a deeper understanding work is devoted to understanding the reciprocal of current programs and of the ways education relationship between education and state legiti- and violent conflict interact. In this paper we macy and capacity (Rose & Greeley, 2006). Most seek to answer the following questions: What is of these studies, however, remain confined to the relationship between education and conflict? How might education mitigate conflict? Toward this end, what works and what does not in pro- system, rather than in representing most accurately the condi- gram interventions? We gather information about tions in countries affected by conflict. Although USAID employs the relationship between education and conflict the phrase “education in crisis and conflict environments,” we continue to use “education in emergencies” because it remains mitigation to prepare USAID education officers the most common label used among aid workers to describe the to design, implement, and monitor “education in types of humanitarian interventions in education that are funded emergencies” programs3 and to respond better and carried out by international organizations abroad. 4 A note on in-text citations and references: We refer to publica- 3 As described below, we recognize that the phrase “education in tions by author when the author’s name is available, rather than emergencies” has its roots in the structure