Dear Colleague,

In dozens of countries across the globe students, educators, schools, intellectuals, aid workers, education institutions and education opportunities are threatened by armed attacks, assassinations, abductions, forced recruitment, looting, destruction of property and other violence. In these settings the right to education is at risk, as is the physical, cognitive and psychosocial well-being of students and their teachers and communities. This significant problem requires urgent attention.

A unique inter-agency coalition, the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), has been formed to lead an international effort to respond to this need. The goals of GCPEA are to:

• Highlight the incidence and impact of attacks on education in conflict-affected and fragile situations among key actors, and cultivate public support for education in safe and secure environments;

• Promote the strengthening of existing monitoring and reporting systems as well as the creation of new systems where needed;

• Promote effective, coherent, timely and evidence-based programmatic measures, including prevention and response;

• Encourage adherence to existing international law protecting education and the strengthening of international norms and standards as needed; and

• Fight impunity for attacks on education by promoting and supporting a range of accountability measures.

GCPEA is governed by a small number of organizations that constitute the Steering Committee: Education Above All, Education International, Human Rights Watch, Save the Children International, The Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund, UNESCO, UNHCR and UNICEF.

GCPEA is inviting organizations at global, national and local levels to join as affiliated organizations in order to expand the network of organizations working toward achievement of GCPEA’s goals. As an affiliated organization, you will:

• Become part of an advocacy network of peer organizations to strengthen protection of education

• Have the opportunity to take part in selected temporary working groups

• Have an opportunity to contribute to the body of knowledge of the incidence of attacks on education

• Receive periodic  updated information on attacks against education worldwide

Click here to download an application for organizational affiliation and our advocacy messages.

Please take the time to review both documents and complete the application form.

Please return the attached application to GCPEA. We thank you for your participation in advance and ask that you direct any questions or comments to gcpea@protectingeducation.org or via telephone at 1.212.377.9446.

Sincerely,
Zama Coursen-Neff