These human rights instruments include international rules about the care of populations, with an emphasis on children and youth. Areas covered include nutrition, recreation, culture, prevention of abuse and early childhood education for children aged under six years. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is particularly important because it covers both children’s right to education and their rights within the educational process, such as the right to be consulted on decisions that affect them, the right to be treated with respect and the right to know about their rights.

Learners, teachers and education personnel have civilian status, as do education buildings. They are protected from armed attack under the Geneva Conventions, which form part of international humanitarian law recognised by every country. National authorities and international stakeholders should support efforts to build this protected status into national law and practice, and to prevent the use of education facilities for military purpose.

When violence threatens educational continuity and child protection, advocacy to promote education, human rights and humanitarian law relevant to education is a priority. Monitoring and reporting of attacks on learners, education personnel and facilities or occupation of educational facilities are essential. This respects the victims’ dignity and leads to coordinated response, investigation and prosecution.

National and local school contingency plans should cover known, expected and recurring hazards. These include small scale disasters, such as regular flooding, that cause cumulative negative impacts on education. The particular needs of vulnerable children and youth should be included. In countries where there are no emergency or disaster response laws for education, the emergency situation provides an opportunity to create them.

Early childhood development services for children below school ageand their parents or guardians should be included in education policies and programmes. Services may include:

• early care and parenting groups;
• play groups;
• inclusion of young children in safe space activities;
• links with health, nutrition and other services.

In countries with a national youth policy, an emergency provides an opportunity to strengthen cross-sectoral work on youth-focused education. In countries without a national youth policy, relevant stakeholders should name a focal point for youth issues in a crisis setting. There should be collaborative work on cross-sectoral policy and programme planning and implementation that considers youth issues. If a national youth policy is developed, it should be based on analysis of the diverse interests and influences among youth sub-groups and the opportunities and risks of various forms of youth participation. A national youth policy complements national frameworks on:

• education;
• technical and vocational education and training;
• emergency preparedness.

School sites should be selected for safety from known hazards and threats and designed and constructed to be resilient. Sufficient space should be planned so that education is not disrupted if schools are needed as emergency, temporary shelters.

Education laws and policies should reflect a thorough understanding of the social, economic, security, environmental and political dynamics in the emergency context. In this way, education planning and programming meet the needs and rights of learners and of wider society, and avoid aggravating social divisions or conflict.

Context analyses may include conflict assessments, human rights assessments and risk and disaster preparedness analyses. Education authorities and other education stakeholders should contribute to context analysis to ensure that education issues are reviewed. Context analysis involves wide consultation with the community. Education authorities and other education stakeholders should advocate for such analyses to be undertaken and included as part of regular education sector reviews and reform processes.

Risk analysis includes an analysis of risks of corruption in the political, administrative and humanitarian environment. Discussion of corruption should be as open as possible in the planning and implementation of emergency education responses. Open discussion is the best way to develop robust anti-corruption policies. Discussion of corruption issues does not mean condoning corruption or implying an actor’s particular vulnerability.

Those involved in education policy development and implementation should share information about policies and strategic responses. This is particularly important in mitigating conflict and disaster. Information should be easily understood and accessible to all.

Laws, regulations and policies should be developed based on reliable information. Education management information system data should be linked to information about areas and population groups that are prone to particular kinds of emergencies. This is a preparedness strategy that provides input into national and local education planning. Where possible, educational data collected by the community should be fed into a national education management information system.

Education must be an integral part of national disaster preparedness frameworks. Resources should be secured to provide an effective and timely education response. International stakeholders, supporting national or local education programmes, should promote preparedness for emergency education response as a component of development programmes.

Preparedness frameworks should make explicit provisions for the participation of children and youth in response efforts at the community level.

Education authorities must ensure that education reaches all groups in an equitable manner. According to international law, refugees should have the same education entitlements as nationals at the elementary level. At higher levels, refugees should have access to studies, recognition of certificates, diplomas and degrees, remission of fees and charges and access to scholarships on terms equivalent to those for nationals of the host country. Internally displaced learners retain the same educational rights as nationals who are not displaced. They are covered by national and international human rights law and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

Non-government and UN actors should be allowed to supplement national education provision to ensure that the education needs and rights of all learners are met. Their access to set up programmes and facilities and to respond swiftly and securely to emergencies should be facilitated by the host country. This may include fast-track visa opportunities and special customs regulations for learning and relief materials.

Formal and non-formal education programmes should provide inclusive educational activities that fulfill education rights and goals. They should be in line with national and international legal frameworks.

Education responses, including early childhood development and youth activities, should be linked to activities carried out in other sectors such as water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion, nutrition, food security and food aid, shelter, health services and economic recovery.

National and local education plans should indicate the actions to be taken in current or future emergencies. They should specify decision-making, coordination, security and protection mechanisms for inter-sectoral coordination. Plans should be based on a thorough understanding of the context and should include indicators and mechanisms for early warning of disaster and conflict. They should be supported by appropriate education policy and frameworks. There should be a system for regular revision of national and local education plans.

National authorities, humanitarian agencies, donors, NGOs, communities and other stakeholders should work together to ensure adequate funding for emergency education provision. Resource coordination should be country-led and integrated with existing coordination mechanisms. Where contextually feasible, resource allocation should be balanced between:

• physical elements, such as additional classrooms, textbooks and teaching and learning materials;
• qualitative components, such as teacher and supervisory training courses, teaching and learning materials.

Resources should be allocated for systematised and centralised reporting of attacks on education and the collection, analysis and sharing of education data.

Relevant information on policy planning and implementation, including practices to prevent corruption (in both monetary and non-monetary forms), should be shared between central and local authorities, communities and other humanitarian stakeholders. Transparency is important for effective monitoring and accountability. There should be confidential and culturally appropriate systems for handling complaints of corruption. These include policies to encourage people to report corruption and to protect those who do so.