What is Conflict Sensitive Education?

Education in conflict-affected and fragile contexts remains an unfulfilled promise. Of the 61 million children worldwide who are out of primary school, 28 million girls and boys live in conflict-affected fragile states (EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011). Education policies and programmes that only focus on technical solutions are not sufficient to address the challenges found in conflict-affected and fragile contexts. If attention to conflict is not integrated into education policy and programming, there is a risk that education investments will increase tensions. It is crucial that all humanitarian, development, and educational programmes respond to the context and the dynamics of the conflict by being "conflict-sensitive," both minimizing negative impacts and maximizing positive impacts.