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	No ‘back to school’ for millions of children affected by conflict by UN News, UNICEF   September 2014   Almost 30 million children are out of school in emergency or conflict affected countries following the targeting of schools and the displacement of millions of children forced from their homes and studies, the United Nations Children’s Fund said today.   “For children living through emergencies, education is a life line,” said Josephine Bourne, UNICEF’s head of global education programmes in a statement to the press, which noted that the 30 million children who’s schooling has been derailed by conflict make up about half the worldwide number of out of school children.   “Being able to continue learning provides a sense of normalcy that can help children overcome trauma, and is an investment – not only in individual children, but in the future strengthening of their societies. Without the knowledge, skills, and support education provides, how can these children and young people rebuild their lives - and their communities?”   A third of schools recently surveyed in the Central African Republic have been struck by bullets, set on fire, looted or occupied by armed forces. Over 100 schools were used as shelters for more than 300,000 people displaced during the most recent conflict in Gaza and now require rehabilitation.   Students and teachers have been killed and abducted in northeast Nigeria, including more than 200 abducted school girls who have yet to be released. In Syria, nearly three million children, half the school population, are now not attending classes on a regular basis. And approximately 290 schools have been destroyed or damaged in recent fighting in Ukraine.   Ms. Bourne outlined how UNICEF supports emergency education through efforts ranging from temporary classrooms and alternative learning spaces for internally displaced and refugee children, to the provision of millions of notebooks, backpacks and other school supplies.   The agency is also supporting self-directed studies for children who can’t leave their homes and will help provide educational radio programmes for children in Ebola-affected countries.   However, despite these emergency education programmes, many initiatives may remain severely underfunded. A record number of emergencies means that more children than ever are at risk and more resources are needed.   “Last year, global emergency education programmes supported by UNICEF only received 2 per cent of all funds raised for humanitarian action, resulting in a $247 million funding shortfall. Education is an essential part of humanitarian response, requiring support and investment from the very onset of a crisis,” Ms. Bourne said.   http://www.unicef.org/emergencies/ http://www.unicef.org/media/media_75652.html http://www.unicef.org/education/bege_61685.html http://www.globalpartnership.org/   Sep 2014   The multiplication of crises affecting children since the beginning of 2014 is creating unprecedented challenges that overshadow progress to date to protect them from the impact of war, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.   The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui, said that she was appalled by the total disregard for human life shown by extremist armed groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Boko Haram. The situation also remains dire in Syria, she said as she presented the Secretary-General’s latest report on children and armed conflict.   “ISIL has tasked boys as young as 13 to carry weapons, guard strategic locations or arrest civilians. Other children are used as suicide bombers,” said Ms. Zerrougui. According to UN monitoring, up to 700 children have been killed or maimed in Iraq since the beginning of the year, including in summary executions.   Meanwhile, Boko Haram has attacked schools, leading to the death of at least 100 students and 70 teachers in 2013. Over 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram in April are still missing, while the armed group continues to attack and kidnap other children.   In Gaza, over 500 children died and more than 1,300 were injured, Ms. Zerrougui said, calling for a thorough investigation of the impact of the war on children. Thousands of displaced families are still living in schools and access to education for the children of Gaza is expected to remain limited. At least 244 schools were damaged during recent fighting.   Many other situations witnessed grave violations against children in 2013 and face similar challenges today. Instability and rising tensions in Libya, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Mali and South Sudan continue to threaten children.   The Special Representative’s presentation took place almost exactly six months after the launch with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) of the joint campaign ‘Children, Not Soldiers’, which works toward a goal of “no children in Government forces by the end of 2016.”   The Government of Chad has already fulfilled all the requirements and pledged to prevent the recruitment of children in its armed forces. In May, Yemen became the 7th country to sign an action place. Progress has also been achieved in South Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo.   “Longstanding peace will never be achieved without giving the children the means, skills, and education to re-build a society and institutions torn by armed conflict,” Ms. Zerrougui said, stressing that more must be done to include special provisions for children affected by conflict into peace agreements.   Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, stressed that coordination of action with international child protection partners was instrumental in addressing the plight of children. Establishing partnerships with States in which UN peacekeeping operations are deployed was also important because States hold the primary responsibility of protecting children.   The Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) would spare no efforts to promote the Children, Not Soldiers campaign and support the Governments and security forces of Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to be free of child soldiers by 2016.   But beyond the campaign, Governments must also set the example and support access for monitoring, assistance, and engagement with armed troops, he noted. When negotiating ceasefires, States must prioritize the inclusion of non-negotiable child protection provisions in all agreements.   Robust action against armed groups holding child soldiers has also taken place, Mr. Ladsous said. To this end, a specialized training unit on child protection for the military has been developed and shared with countries contributing troops to UN operations.   Also briefing the Council was Forest Whitaker, Academy award-winning actor and Special Envoy of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for Peace and Reconciliation, who returned yesterday from South Sudan.   “After meeting with generals on the ground, soldiers and civilians, I fear that there is no end in sight to the violence,” Mr. Whitaker said, describing a scene of thousands of civilians seeking shelter in over-crowded camps because they are too afraid to go back home.   In the protection camp in Bentiu, he reported, malnutrition is causing some children’s hair to turn red. Throughout the country, hundreds of schools are empty and some have turned into military camps, as thousands of young people go without food.   “Perhaps worst of all, walking through the cities, I saw child soldiers wearing military uniforms and carrying guns,” Mr. Whitaker said.   In Uganda, he said the Lord’s Resistance Army would kidnap children from their villages, forcing them to kill those they loved. In some cultures, being a soldier is seen as a rite of passage, and many children join for the honour of supporting their tribes.   “We may take a child out of an army, but unless we do more for him – help him re-enter society, enrol him in a good school, teach him a useful trade – we have not set him free,” said Mr. Whitaker.   http://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/ http://reliefweb.int/report/world/children-and-armed-conflict-report-secretary-general-a68878-s2014339 Visit the related web page
	Women as everyday peacebuilders critical to nation-building by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka UN Women Executive Director   03 September 2014   In the aftermath of conflict, studies have shown that women play a key role in rebuilding their nations. The roles that women often assume during conflict– as combatants, political or economic actors providing for their families or activists engaged in community reconciliation – must be recognized, say experts, and supported in the post-conflict period. However, too often, women’s daily peacebuilding stories remain untold.   To bring such voices to light, the UN Peacebuilding Commission, under the chairpersonship of Brazil, held a session entitled “Women, Everyday Peacebuilders” on 3 September 2014. The session brought together women peace activists from Colombia, Kenya and Liberia, delegates to the Peacebuilding Commission and senior UN officials.   “Investing in women’s leadership is peacebuilding’s best value for money. In the aftermath of conflict, billions of dollars are spent on projects that often predominantly benefit men. By contrast, grass-roots women leaders often work with very few resources – this must change,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director, in her video message.   “National and international security actors must ensure the protection of women peacebuilders so they can continue their critical work. The targeting of women who speak up for their communities … is unacceptable and must be urgently addressed,” she added.   Liberian Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and keynote speaker, noted that “women across the world have been tested and proven worthy of building peace at the local level and in some cases the national levels. There is no need to build a strong case on their behalf.” Stressing the role of women in peacebuilding, she stated that “It is ordinary women who can make and bring change.”   Emphasizing women’s role in reconciliation and peacebuilding at the local level, as well as its impact at the national level, Judy Cheng Hopkins, former Assistant-Secretary-General (ASG) for Peacebuilding Support, addressed the audience with a question: “While we are all working for lasting peace, maybe we are not looking at the right places if we are ignoring what women are doing at local level.”   During the session, Commission members reflected on women’s peacebuilding efforts in their own national context and discussed the opportunities to prioritize women’s empowerment in their daily work.   Explaining how women’s groups used mobile technology to develop an early warning system in Kenya after the 2009 electoral violence, Alice Nderitu, of the African Regional Office of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue noted that “the ways people mobilize for violence can also mobilize people for peace.”   Sharing the experience of Colombia, Rosa Emilia Salamanca, Executive Director of Corporación de Investigación y Acción Social y Económica (CIASE) stressed the importance of women’s economic empowerment for peacebuilding, noting that “security for women in Colombia is tied to economic independence.” She also emphasized the convening power of women peacebuilders. Ms. Cheng-Hopkins commended the Peacebuilding Fund for launching a Gender Promotion Initiative in order to increase the allocation of funds to women’s peacebuilding efforts in priority countries.   In his concluding remarks, UN Women Deputy Executive Director John Hendra highlighted the fact that women peacebuilders bridge the local – national divide and come up with innovative solutions to conflict due to their expertise, knowledge and legitimacy. He also reiterated the urgency with which international partners must increase financial and political support to women peacebuilders on the ground.   Closing the event, Ambassador Antônio de Aguiar Patriota, PBC Chairperson, stressed inclusive national ownership and commented that “Women and men have to unite to ensure the culture of militarism does not prevail.”   * Watch the webcast via the link below.   Peace means dignity, well-being for all, not just absence of war   Underscoring that peace is more than just the absence of war, United Nations officials today stressed the need for concerted efforts to achieve the common vision of a life of dignity and well-being for all.   “We know that peace cannot be decreed solely through treaties – it must be nurtured through the dignity, rights and capacities of every man and woman,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his remarks to the High-level Forum on the Culture of Peace, convened by the General Assembly. “It is a way of being, of interacting with others, of living on this planet.”   In September 1999, the Assembly adopted, by consensus, a resolution on the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace. Since then, it has met annually to discuss the issue, as well as how to advance this noble goal.   Mr. Ban said that peace means access to education, health and essential services – especially for girls and women; giving every young woman and man the chance to live as they choose; and developing sustainably and protecting the planet’s biodiversity.   “More than ever, it means living with others on the basis of tolerance, respect and mutual understanding,” he added.   “We are challenged today. We join forces here to promote a culture of peace, and yet all around us we see a spreading virus of war, of conflict, extremism, violence, hatred and terrorism.   “But I am convinced that our strongest arsenal in the face of these threats is not weapons or missiles or guns,” he stated. “It is our shared values … our common vision for peace, development and human rights … our universal aspiration for a meaningful culture of peace.”   Delivering remarks on behalf of Assembly President John Ashe, Vice-President Isabelle F. Picco said the desire for a culture of peace knows no boundaries and is inherent in the hearts of all people.   “It transcends gender, culture, religion, faith and belief, and unites the rich and poor, the old and young, East and West, North and South around a common desire.”   She added that the post-2015 development agenda that Member States are currently working on must be rooted in a culture of peace.   “Peace as an overarching theme must be woven throughout the goals and underpin the targets,” Ms. Picco stated. “And our new agenda must be backed by the political will, commitment, partnerships and financial support to help usher in a new era of peace on a global level.” Visit the related web page
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