Joint-Statement for the 59th Session of the Human Rights Council

GCPEA, Save the Children, GADRRRES, Plan International

Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education

June 19, 2025, Joint Statement Delivered by GCPEA

Thank you, Mr. President. This statement is delivered on behalf of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), Save the Children, the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GADRRRES), and Plan International.

We welcome the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, particularly its call for States to adopt an all-hazards, context-specific, systemic approach to safety—anchored in the Safe Schools Declaration (SSD) and the Comprehensive School Safety Framework (CSSF). These tools are essential to realizing the right to safe, inclusive, and quality education for all learners, in all contexts, and from all hazards.

We highlight with appreciation the Special Rapporteur’s broad definition of safe schools, including the focus on infrastructure, school management, and disaster risk reduction education. Strategies for addressing these areas are outlined in the CSSF, which to date has been endorsed by 84 countries.

We echo the Special Rapporteur’s strong recommendation that all states should endorse the CSSF and the SSD, and we encourage cross-government implementation of these frameworks including from ministries of education, environment, finance, and civil protection, as well as national disaster management authorities.

We are deeply concerned by the growing military use of educational environments, including in times of peace, and we echo the Special Rapporteur’s recommendation that all schools should be operated by civilian authorities using child-centred, protective approaches. We urge all States and non-state actors to endorse and implement the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict to restrict this practice and safeguard the civilian character of education, particularly in the lead up to the Fifth International Conference on the Safe Schools Declaration, taking place in Kenya in December.

We share the Special Rapporteur’s grave concern for the situation in Gaza, Sudan, DRC, Ukraine, and Haiti, where attacks on education have had devastating impacts on school infrastructures, safety of children and education personnel. We call for accountability and redress for education-related violations and crimes.

We look forward to the Special Rapporteur’s policy brief on the right to education in armed conflict, for the General Assembly in 2025, which we hope will call for systematic prohibition of military use of all educational facilities in armed conflict.

Thank you.