INEE's 20th Anniversary
The Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) turned 20 years old in 2020, and we invite you to join us in celebration of this milestone!
INEE 20th Anniversary Report
Reflecting on the 20 years since the founding of INEE in November 2000, there is much to be proud of. Yet celebrations of our achievements are tinged with sadness, at a time of a global pandemic emergency that affects the education of children and youth in almost every nation in the world.
In our new report, ‘20 Years of INEE: Achievements and Challenges in Education in Emergencies’ (available in English, français, español, português, العربيه), we highlight the continued relevance of INEE 20 years on. The report presents new data that shows 127 million primary and secondary school-age children and young people living in crisis-affected countries were out of school in 2019. This is equivalent to almost half of the global out-of-school population, even though only around 29% of children and young people in this age group globally live in crisis-affected countries. These figures are based on new data provided by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).
The report also demonstrates the still urgent need to prioritize education and financing of education in emergencies, particularly in ‘forgotten’ crises.
Read the launch blog, a blog by the authors, and download/read the report.
INEE 20th Anniversary Global Event
On Monday, 9 November 2020, INEE held a 20th-anniversary commemoration to look back over two decades of achievements and challenges in the field of education in emergencies (EiE). This virtual event featured several panel discussions with INEE founders, youth and teachers, and EiE experts, as well as the launch of a new report "20 Years of INEE".
This event featured simultaneous interpretation in English, Arabic, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, and a recording is available in each language.
As a way to capture the dialogue throughout the event, Dr. Max Frieder, Ed.D, of Artolution produced a live, creative visualization depicting the themes discussed by participants. We encourage you to engage with this wonderful art piece via a tour and description of the concepts as well as a time-lapse video of its production.
You can also check out the "best thing about INEE" word cloud produced by participants during the event.
Click to learn more about this global event
INEE Member Stories
We’re excited to share the following video compilation of essays, photos, and videos submitted by INEE members around the world to mark the occasion of INEE’s 20th anniversary.
This video has subtitled versions in English, Arabic, French, Spanish, and Portuguese (or access all video files here).
To see the complete set of essays, photos, and videos submitted as part of our 20th Anniversary Call for Stories, please visit inee.org/anniversary/stories.
INEE 20th Anniversary Blogs
We asked INEE members, past and present, to share their reflections on 20 years of INEE and thoughts on what lies ahead for the Education and Emergencies sector. Scroll through the list of blogs below to read their contributions.
- Go for it, INEE! Cross the humanitarian-development divide and build the nexus to ensure children’s education [En]
Margaret Sinclair, University of Sussex, 24 November 2020 - Reflection on INEE's 20th Anniversary [En]
Marc Sommers, 10 November 2020 - The Reunion: A conversation with some of INEE’s founding members (Part I) [En]
Peter Buckland, Eldrid Midttun, Christopher Talbot, INEE, 9 November 2020 - The Reunion: A conversation with some of INEE's founding members (Part II) [En]
Peter Buckland, Eldrid Midttun, Christopher Talbot, INEE, 9 November 2020 - 20 Years of INEE: Achievements and Challenges in Education in Emergencies [En]
Dean Brooks, Pauline Rose, Silvia Montoya, 9 November 2020
INEE History and Timeline
INEE was conceptualized in 2000 at the World Education Forum in Dakar where UNHCR, UNESCO, and UNICEF took forward Strategy Five of the Dakar Framework for Action and convened the first Global Consultation on Education in Emergencies (Geneva, 2000). INEE was founded on the basis that the right to quality education is universal and not suspended in times of emergency.
There has been notable progress within the field of education in emergencies (EiE) in the last twenty years since INEE was established, including the development and adoption of global humanitarian standards for education - the INEE Minimum Standards (2004) - the formation of the Global Education Cluster (2006), and the establishment of the Education Cannot Wait Fund (2016).
INEE has grown to a network of more than 17,500 individual members in 190 countries. INEE has consistently supported those living and working in the field of EiE to improve the quality of education in crisis contexts.
INEE marks its 20th anniversary in a year when 90 percent of the world's students were affected by school closures at the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic. This crisis illustrates in a profound and comprehensive way that many of the same challenges that led to the formation of INEE still remain, including the deprioritization and underfunding of education in most humanitarian responses. INEE and the collective action it generates is more relevant than ever.