Fourth International Conference on the Safe Schools Declaration Videos

Civil Society Event Organized by the Education in Emergencies Working Group Nigeria

This opening event, organized by civil society, heard from individuals directly affected by attacks and activists working in communities experiencing conflict first-hand. It put a spotlight on promising and innovative practices, as well as identified gaps and challenges in implementing the Declaration, taking stock of how the Declaration is making a real difference in people’s lives.

Video : Children’s Perspectives by Save the Children Norway

Opening Remarks
• Mr. Passy Amani, Education Sector Coordinator, Education in
Emergencies Working Group Nigeria (EiEWGN)

Keynote Address
• Ms. Gayathri Butler, Director, Advocates Programme, Malala Fund

Panel conversation: How SSD is making a difference
Moderator: Ms. Zama Neff, Co-chair, Global Coalition to Protect
Education from Attack (GCPEA)

Panelists:
• Ms. Yasmine Sherif, Director, Education Cannot Wait (ECW)
• Ms. Inger Ashing, Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children
International (SCI)
• H.E. Amb. Bankole Adeoye, African Union Commissioner for
Political Affairs, Peace and Security, African Union Peace and
Security Council

Hearing it from the Children
• Intervention by child rights activist (Columbia)

Interventions by affected, activists and practitioners
• Ms. Joy Bishara, Survivor, Nigeria
• Ms. Deisy Apiricio, Student and Activist, Colombia
• Mr. Ahmad Turki Arafat, Child Rights Activist, Syria

Civil Society Statement

Closing remarks
• Ms. Zama Neff, Co-chair, Global Coalition to Protect Education
from Attack (GCPEA)

Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Welcome Reception
 

In the evening, the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a Welcome Reception and recognised delegates from the following newly endorsing states: Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Gambia, Guatemala, Maldives, Moldova, Morocco, Nicaragua, Palau, Samoa, Senegal, and Seychelles.

Welcome Address
• H.E. Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Goodwill Messages :
• H.E. Dr. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget
and National Planning, Federal Republic of Nigeria
• Arch Sonny S.T Echono, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Federal Republic of Nigeria
• Ms. Zama Neff, Co-chair, Global Coalition to Protect Education
from Attack (GCPEA)

Keynote Address:
• Ms. Helen Grant MP, UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education

Recognition of new endorsing states:
• H.E. Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Introduction to Universities Network for Children in Armed
Conflicts, Italy and the Virtual Concert
• H.E. Dr. Stefano Pontesilli, Ambassador of Italy in Abuja

Virtual Concert ð Universities Network for Children in Armed Conflicts, Italy

Dinner and Cultural Troupe

Vote of thanks
• Amb. Samson Itegboje, Director International Organisations Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony welcomed participants to the 4th International Conference on the Safe Schools Declaration, the first on the African continent, and the first held virtually, enabling a truly global audience to join. Beginning with the voices of children, reminding governments of their obligations to protect their education, and including welcome, opening, and good-will messages from state, United Nations, and civil society dignitaries, the ceremony concluded with a keynote address by H.E. President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, represented by his Chief of Staff.

Voices of children by Save the Children Norway and the Global
Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA)
• Video of voices of conflict-affected children across the globe
(Guatemala, Colombia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria)

Welcome Address
• Arit Okpo, Host CNN African Voices Changemakers (Master of
Ceremonies)

Role play by children from Borno State

Welcome Speech
• H.E. Malam Adamu Adamu, Minister of Education, Federal
Republic of Nigeria

Opening Remarks
• H.E. Ms. Anniken Huitfeldt, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway
• H.E. Mr. José Manuel Albares Bueno, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Spain

Goodwill Messages
• Mr. Ziauddin Yousafzai, Co-founder, Malala Fund
• Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General, United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• Ms. Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
• Mr. David Beckham OBE, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador

Special Address
• H.E. President Felix – Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo & Chair, African Union

Keynote Address
• H.E. President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, Head of State and
Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Ministries of Defence Experiences Protecting Education: Challenges and Responses

Hosted by the Nigerian Armed Forces, this session explored how the military is working to protect education in the North-East of the country where schools are being targeted for attack by non-state armed groups. Military experts from the Ukraine and the African Union joined the discussion to explore their own practical experiences and challenges in preventing and responding to attacks on education in conflict zones.

Video :
Nigerian military activities to safeguard education in the North-East

Moderator:
• Ms. Zama Neff, Co-chair, Global Coalition to Protect Education
from Attack (GCPEA)

Panelists:
• Major General Salihi Magashi (Rtd), Minister of Defence, Federal Republic of Nigeria
• Colonel Volodymyr Liamzin, Deputy Chief of CIMIC Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Ukraine
• H.E. Amb. Bankole Adeoye, African Union Commissioner for
Political Affairs, Peace and Security, African Union Peace and
Security Council
• Q & A

Panel 1: Using the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities during Armed Conflict

By endorsing the Safe Schools Declaration states commit to endorse and use the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict and bring them into domestic policy and operational frameworks as far as possible and appropriate. In this panel, GCPEA shared data showing an overall reduction of military use in states that were early endorsers of the Safe Schools Declaration. The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations discussed its ban on using schools for military purposes and its impact. Countries that have taken concrete steps to implement the Guidelines in their legislation, policies, military doctrine, or practice offered insight on how they have contributed to saving lives and protecting the right to education and how their good practice can be replicated in other contexts.

Moderator:
• H.E. Amb. Federico Villegas, the Permanent Representative of
Argentina to the International Organizations in Geneva

Panellists :
• Dr. Jerome Marston and Dr. Marika Tsolakis, Senior Researchers, Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA)
• Mr. Anis Chouchane, Department of Peacekeeping Operations,
United Nations (UN)
• Mr. Charles Fomunyam, Child Protection Adviser, United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)
• Mrs. Tabitha Bonney, Senior Lawyer, Operational and International Humanitarian Law Team, Ministry of Defence, Central Legal Services, United Kingdom
• Mrs. Beatriz Sierra, Senior Advisor at the Humanitarian Action Office, Spanish Development Cooperation Agency (AECID)

• Q and A

Discussion: Urging Non-State Armed Groups to Protect Education

Geneva Call engages with non-state armed groups to encourage respect for international humanitarian norms and principles. The Director-General, Mr. Alain Délétroz, shared successes and challenges in working with non-state armed groups to end attacks on education, and limit use of schools for military purposes, including by implementing the Guidelines.

Interviewer : Arit Okpo, Host CNN African Voices Changemakers
(Master of Ceremonies)
Discussant : Mr. Alain Délétroz, Director-General, Geneva Call

Panel 2: Ensure continuity of education in zones of conflict

The Safe Schools Declaration includes a commitment to seek to ensure the continuation of education during armed conflict. This panel explored how this commitment has been put into practice, particularly in the context of the Covid 19 pandemic where many schools across the globe were closed and alternative measures such as distance learning were put in place. It considered how these measures can be extended to children in armed conflict, even when the pandemic is over. Safe education can also contribute to preventing other forms of grave violations against children, such a recruitment, sexual violence, and abductions. The panellists reflected on how the Safe Schools Declaration, a tool for ensuring safe education, can contribute to reducing these other grave violations, especially against women and girls.

Video:
Keep Us Safe by Global Coalition to Protect Education from
Attack (GCPEA)

Moderator
• Ms. Cathrine Andersen, Special Representative for Protection
of Civilians, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Panelists
• H.E. Ms. Marina Sereni, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation, Italy
• H.E. Dr. Pauline Nalova Lyonga, Minister for Secondary
Education, Cameroon
• Dr. Andreas Snildal, Senior Programme Officer, United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO)
• Ms. Charlotte Berquin, Education Officer, United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Regional Bureau for
West & Central Africa
• Ms. Inger Ashing, Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children
International (SCI)
• Mr. Graham Lang, Chief of Education, Education Cannot Wait
(ECW)

• Q and A

Reflections on Protecting Education from Attack in the Sahel Region

An alarming number of attacks on education in the Sahel region have been recorded in recent years. In 2020, GCPEA collected over 600 reported incidents of attacks on education in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. In Nigeria, since 2020, over 1,400 students and educators have reportedly been abducted, arrested, injured, or killed. At the same time, these countries have made significant progress in implementing the Safe Schools Declaration, through national action plans, legislation, and regional coordination mechanisms. This session discussed the measures being put in place to protect education in some of the most challenging of circumstances.

Video
Protecting Education in the Sahel Region by Plan International on behalf of the Secondary Education Working Group (SEWG) and partners

Moderator
• Mrs Cristina Gutierrez, Director of the Humanitarian Action Office, Spanish Development Cooperation Agency (AECID).

Panelists
• H.E. Mr. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, Minister of State for Education, Federal Republic of Nigeria
• Mr. Mamadou Kanté, Chair of National Safe Schools Follow- up Committee, Ministry of National Education, Mali
• Mr. Clement Traore, Education Programme Advisor, Plan
International Burkina Faso / Country Office
• H.E. Dr. Rabiou Ousman, Minister of National Education, Republic of Niger

• Q and A

Panel 3: Way Forward: Investigating Allegations of Violations, Prosecuting Persecutors, and Providing Assistance to Survivors

The Safe Schools Declaration includes a commitment to investigate allegations of violations of applicable national and international law and, where appropriate, duly prosecute perpetrators. It also includes a commitment to provide assistance for victims. This panel addressed how international and national legal systems can achieve justice for victims and survivors of attacks on education, as well as serve as a deterrent for further attacks.

Video:
Education Above All #UniteToProtect Film 2021

Moderator
• Mr. Anthony O. Ojukwu Esq, Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Panelists:
• “Mohammad”, Survivor, Palestine
• Dr. Cécile Aptel, Deputy Director, United Nations Institute for
Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
• Dr. Robert Doya Nanima, Special Rapporteur on Children in
Armed Conflict, African Committee Rights and Welfare of the
Child
• Ms. Mona Rishmawi, Chief Rule of Law, Equality and NonDiscrimination Branch, Office of UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR)
• Ms. Tirana Hassan, Deputy Executive Director and Chief
Programmes Officer, Human Rights Watch (HRW)
• Q and A

Video :
• Mr. Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Crisis Management, European Commission
• Mr. Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative, Nigeria

Closing Ceremony

To round up three days of exchanging good practice in realizing the Declaration commitments, Norway launched the state-led implementation network, which was followed by children sharing a manifesto, and global leaders urging implementation of the SSD. Finally, Nigeria's Foreign Minister summed up the key takeaways, and Her Excellency, the First Lady, represented by her Special Assistant (African First Ladies Peace Mission) offered closing remarks.

Launch of the Implementation Network by Norway
• H.E. Mr Knut Eiliv Lein, Ambassador of Norway in Abuja
Children’s Manifesto

Closing statements
• Mr. Forest Whittaker, UN SDG Advocate & UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace & Reconciliation (video)
• H.E. Mr. Santiago Cafiero, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, Argentina
• Ms. Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the United
Nations Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict
• Mr. Peter Maurer, President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
• Rt Hon Gordon Brown, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education

Conclusions and Recommendations of the Abuja Conference:
• H.E. Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Closing Speech
• H.E. Dr. Mrs Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, First Lady, Federal
Republic of Nigeria

Performance by children