EAA to Organize Global Event on International Day to Protect Education from Attack

Education Above All (EAA) Foundation will hold on Thursday a high-level event to celebrate the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, which takes place on September 9 of each year.

Education Above All (EAA) Foundation will hold on Thursday a high-level event to celebrate the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, which takes place on September 9 of each year.

The virtual event, under the title "Protect Education for Sustainable Peace", constitutes a platform to discuss building sustainable education and peace, governance mechanisms, and legal mechanisms for protecting education, as well as the importance of collecting data and evidence to hold perpetrators accountable and achieve justice for victims.

The event is co-organized by the Education Above All Foundation, the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict. The event is expected to bring together a number of world leaders and the United Nations, as well as advocates for youth issues, policy makers and academics.

Prior to the event, EEA, which is concerned with education affairs, issued a call to pay compensation to victims of attacks on education, as recently released figures show a dramatic increase in attacks on education in 2020, despite COVID-19-related school closures.

According to the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) of which EAA is a founding member there were 2,400 documented attacks on education in 2020, a 33 percent increase since 2019.

EAA noted that international law already includes rules to hold perpetrators accountable and make them pay reparations and compensation to victims. EAA advocates for the enforcement of these international rules to ensure justice for victims of attacks on education.

EAAs appeal to the global community comes as part of its three-year #UniteToProtect global campaign to end attacks on education through the collection of data on attacks as a basis for evidence generation, accountability, grassroots advocacy and sustainable peacebuilding. (QNA)