Education as Peacebuilding: The Hidden Key to Our Global Humanitarian Reset
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending the Humanitarian Leadership Conference 2025 (HLC) in Doha, Qatar. With over 250 delegates from 85 countries—including some of the hardest-hit conflict zones—this convening was not just another gathering: it was a reckoning. A moment that urged us not to simply reform the humanitarian system, but to reset it entirely.
Amid calls for courage, solidarity, and urgency, the voices that resonated most were those of proximate leaders—people rooted in the communities and crises they serve, those who are often microphone-less, but never voiceless. The call was clear: we cannot solve today’s complex challenges using yesterday’s models. We need new systems, new partnerships, and new power dynamics. We need to shift from extraction to empathy. From control to trust, and from isolationism to solidarity.
Yet in the many bold discussions about systemic change, philanthropy, decolonization, and collective leadership, one cornerstone of systems transformation remains profoundly underacknowledged: quality education for all, especially marginalized children and young people within and fleeing humanitarian conflict.
In my own journey, I narrowly escaped the painful reality of being conscripted into a rebel movement in southwestern Uganda after nearly dropping out of school before completing primary education, having lost my entire family to AIDS and other preventable diseases. As I have earlier noted, education is a tool of resistance and liberation, which is why it is often one of the first casualties of war and authoritarian regimes. In all corners of the world—education is often the first line of attack by armed groups and authoritarian governments, who would rather erase history and dictate what children and young people learn, who can teach, and even the language of instruction. Educated professionals and teachers flee. Schools are bombed. Students are left behind. Education in emergencies—and indeed education for all—is not a regional issue; it is a global emergency that demands our collective action.
Throughout the Humanitarian Leadership Conference and beyond, discussions around insecurity, polarization, radicalization, and disinformation are changing from being focused on traditional top down, global north to south solutions. Increasingly, practitioners are demanding reforms in governance structures, in aid delivery, and in financing mechanisms that prioritize solidarity and mutual partnership with the proximate leaders addressing these challenges with cultural sensitivity. However, in all these global and local conversations, the role of education—not just as a public service, but as a force for peace, agency, civic imagination, and responsibility—must not be underemphasized.
In their Brookings research Beyond Madrasas, Winthrop and Graff reveal how the failure to deliver quality, equitable education in Pakistan had fueled grievances that militant groups easily exploit. They found that raising primary education enrollment alone could reduce the risk of conflict by nearly 75%—a staggering reminder that education is not just preparation for jobs, but an essential investment in social cohesion, resilience, and collective leadership. This reality is not confined to Pakistan. From the Sahel to Syria, from Myanmar to marginalized communities in the United States, the neglect of education as a liberation and peacebuilding tool seeds the radicalization, polarization, and societal fragmentation that underpin many of today’s crises. And yet, time and again, we fail to treat education with the urgency it demands—forgetting that it is through education that societies adapt, heal, and reimagine a more just future.
On stage and in conference rooms in Doha, I was in deep discourse with leaders and some colleagues from Afghanistan, Palestine, Bangladesh, Qatar, and every other corner of the world who continue working and see education as the throughline that holds the fabric of their societies together despite challenges they endure daily. In Bangladesh, education has fueled a powerful grassroots student movement for anti-discrimination and democratic reforms. In recent years, thousands of young people, informed by their education and civic awareness, have mobilized to challenge systemic inequalities and advocate for a more inclusive future. These movements are a vivid reminder that education does more than prepare individuals for employment; it empowers young leaders to question injustice, mobilize communities, and shape the destiny of their nations. Whether it’s education for girls in Afghanistan who see their agency and dreams intertwined with access to educational opportunity, or young political activists in Bangladesh, Uganda or Kenya raising their voices for freedom, education remains the cornerstone for social cohesion, resilience, and development.
In a post-industrial, post-truth, polycrisis world, education can no longer be assumed as an uncontested good or pushed to the sidelines. It must be recognized—and defended—as the glue that holds the very fabric of our societies together. It is the foundation on which resilience, democracy, and peace are built. As former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan once noted, “Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy, and sustainable human development.”
Education may appear self-evident in its importance, but in times like these, its defense and investment must be deliberate, intentional, and rooted in the understanding that it serves the collective good. If governments, philanthropists, and communities alike invest thoughtfully and with the public interest at heart, education could well be the force that secures not only sustainable development, but a more peaceful, just, and humane world for generations to come.
About the Author
Kassaga James Arinaitwe is a Senior Director of Emerging Leaders & Public Engagement at Teach For All. Co-founder and former CEO of Teach For Uganda, and a Senior Fellow with the Aspen Institute Global Innovators Group.