Responding to the Education Crisis in the Arab Region

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As crises persist throughout the Arab Region, and resources to address immediate humanitarian needs and long-term development goals increasingly become limited and overstretched, better strategic partnerships to ensure complementarity and sustainability in UNESCO’s response is needed.

UNESCO Strategic Framework for Education in Emergencies in the Arab Region for the 2018-2021 period aims to support Member States in meeting their educational needs in times of crisis, while striving to make headway on the targets and commitments in Sustainable Development Goal 4, focusing on inclusion of the most vulnerable.

Capitalizing on UNESCO’s achievements in education in emergencies, UNESCO aims to reduce the negative effects of crisis on education in the affected Arab countries by prioritizing its areas of comparative advantage, such as promoting sector-wide lifelong learning, system strengthening and improving the quality of education, and ensuring that post-basic education for youth is not overlooked.

The Strategic Framework therefore aims to increase access to quality learning opportunities for children and youth, to empower them with values, knowledge and skills for life and work, to support teachers and enhance the resilience of education systems. It provides strategic direction and a programmatic framework for UNESCO’s work in emergencies in the Arab Region for the 2018-2021 period in full alignment with the Refugee and Resilience Plans (3RP), humanitarian response and national response plans.

It consists of the following four strategic goals anchored in the three pillars of education: Access, Quality and System Strengthening.

Based on this strategic framework, UNESCO field offices in the Arab Region have developed costed country plans to guide their programming for the next two years (2018-2019). Progress will be measured at both national and regional level through strengthening monitoring and evaluation procedures.

Education is a human right, vital for recovery, reconciliation and peace. Investing in education at all levels in emergency settings, as well as post-crisis situations, is a development and security imperative for stability and lasting peace in the region, one that UNESCO is determined to take forward.