South Sudan

Participated in Addis workshop.

February 2017: Confidential update from AMISOM Child Protection Officer, Musa Gbow, to Dragica, Watchlist: “I am aware that some AMISOM troops continue to occupy the Masla University but they have begun the process of vacating that campus. There are plans for the AU to renovate it before it could be returned to the government. This is yet to be done and the longer it takes the more children continue to be deprived of the needed education. There is therefore the need for more advocacy and funds mobilization to support AMISOM to vacate and renovate the university.”

July 2017: In Somalia, AMISOM vacated the Somali National University and returned control of the facility to the authorities in a handover ceremony, which was presided over by Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Somalia, and the Minister of Education, Deputy Minister of Finance, and the Deputy Governor. Also in attendance were representatives of OCHA, UNICEF, civil society and other government officials. Prior to the handing over, the UN Support Office in Somalia supported the clearance of all unexploded ordnance and cleaned the buildings that had been occupied by the troops. Significant refurbishment is required, but the university director announced that classes would resume in September 2017. This is the third education facility now handed over to the Federal Government of Somalia since the beginning of 2017. Human Rights Watch issued a dispatch highlighting the handover, and calling on the African Union to adopt rules aimed at ending all military use of schools. The dispatch was further shared by All Africa. UNICEF issued a press release welcoming the handover, which highlighted the need for education facilities to be disassociated from military use.

September 2017: GCPEA sent a letter to the ambassador in New York asking to raise the issue on attacks and military use, draw attention to the Declaration and the Guidelines and also to mention the AU call to endorse during the Open Debate on children and armed conflict.

April 2018: Save the Children Norway travelled to South Sudan to meet with colleagues implementing the Schools as Zones of Peace project. A key obstacle to implementation of the Declaration is lack of financial resources. In addition, authorities, particularly at the sub-regional level, have limited knowledge of general IHL principles.

February 2019: The Human Rights Council-mandated Commission on Human Rights released a report, concluding that violations that may amount to crimes against humanity have continued to be committed in 2018. It is reported that at least 2.2 million school-aged children are out school as education facilities have been targeted, damaged, or occupied for military purposes.

March 2019: Clustered Interactive Dialogue with the SRSG CAAC Virginia Gamba, HRC Geneva: joined Norway’s joint statement on the Safe Schools Declaration.

February 2020: The Government of South Sudan and different armed groups in the country took a historic step by signing a Comprehensive Action Plan to end and prevent all grave violations against children. This is the most comprehensive Action Plan signed to date by parties listed in the annexes of the Secretary-General Annual Report on CAAC. The Action Plan covers protection against attacks on schools.

August 2020:GCPEA reviewed and provided comments to a 12-page “booklet” that Save the Children South Sudanese team and their partner Advocates without Borders had drafted to help socialize the SSD and its Guidelines with the Ministry of Defence, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders in an upcoming meeting organized by the Ministry of General Education and Instruction. This is an important step to help South Sudanese authorities apply the SSD and its Guidelines to their context to help elevate the discussion on the SSD in South Sudan.

September 2022: Endorsed the Call to Action on Education in crisis situations (refers to EuA22 data) at the Transforming Education Summit

September 2022: The Committee on the Rights of the Child has released its new concluding observations on South Sudan: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared20Documents/SSD/CRC_C_SSD_CO_1_50282_E.pdf
“The Committee notes the efforts of the State party to cease and prevent all grave violations committed against children, including through implementation of the Child Rights Act (2008), the 2014 joint communiqué, signed by the President of South Sudan and the United Nations, on addressing conflict-related sexual violence, the R-ARCSS (2018) and the 2020 Comprehensive Action Plan to halt and prevent all six grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict in South Sudan. However, the Committee is seriously
concerned that:…“(c) Schools and hospitals have been targeted, damaged, or occupied for military purposes;“…Recalling the recommendations made by the United Nations Secretary General (A/76/871-S/2022/493 and S/2020/1205) and the Security Council Working Group on Children on Armed Conflict (S/AC.51/202/1) and in line with commitments made by the State Party during its third Universal Periodic Review, the Committee strongly urges the State party to:…“(d) Endorse and implement the Safe Schools Declaration [dear reader, they already have…] and prevent and condemn the use of schools and hospitals as military bases effectively denying children the right to education and to health;”
March 2017: Attended Buenos Aires Conference on Safe Schools and provided a speaker – third secretary from Geneva mission.

March 2017: UNAMA organized a workshop in Mazar, Afghanistan, aimed at finding ways to prevent the recruitment of children by armed groups. The workshop included sessions outlining international legal instruments including the SSD, which Afghanistan endorsed in 2015.

May 2017: Human Rights Watch issued a letter to all NATO member states about civilian protection in Afghanistan, asking them to help Afghanistan to stop using schools in light of their shared commitments under the Declaration.

September 2017 UNSC: GCPEA sent a letter to the Ambassador of Afghanistan in New York asking to raise issue of attacks and military use and to draw attention to the Declaration and Guidelines during the Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict.

October 2017: Human Rights Watch issued a report on barriers to access to education for girls in Afghanistan, together with a new animation video, highlighting many of these barriers, including attacks on students and military use of schools.

March 2018: During the Annual Day on the Rights of the Child, 5 March: Afghanistan highlighted their support for the Declaration in their national statement.

May 2018: In its monthly update for May, Watchlist called on Afghanistan to implementation the Declaration.

July 2018: Co-sponsored resolution 2427 (2018).

August 2018: Norwegian Refugee Council issued a report, Educational Sites in Afghanistan are Changing from Bastions of Hope and Safety into Spaces of Fear, Armed Conflict and Politics. According to the report, schools in Afghanistan are increasingly becoming military, ideological, and political battlegrounds. “28 per cent of surveyed children and parents stated that schools in their places of origin had been closed due to the conflict. NRC found that the majority of surveyed children do not feel safe at school, with many boys and girls terrified that their school would be attacked. 12 per cent had experienced attacks on their school and 15 per cent experienced shooting very near to their school building. Many had missed exams or periods of school, either because of threats from armed actors, or because they or their parents believed that the school would be targeted. 36 per cent of the children were frightened about risks of kidnap or attack en route to school.” The report also refers to NRC Afghanistan’s new 2018-2020 Protection Strategy which will focus partly on protecting education and operationalizing the Safe Schools Declaration.

November 2018: GCPEA has been working with Save the Children to prepare a briefing paper on attacks on education in Afghanistan that will be released on November 26, ahead of the Geneva Ministerial Conference on Afghanistan that will take place in Geneva on November 27-28.

November 2018: GCPEA released Attacks on Education in Afghanistan briefing paper to coincide with the Geneva Ministerial Conference on Afghanistan, where the Afghan Government and the international community will gather to discuss strategies for achieving peace and development in the country.

March 2019: mentioned their endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration during the Clustered Interactive Dialogue with the SRSG CAAC Virginia Gamba, HRC Geneva. Joined Norway’s joint statement on the Safe Schools Declaration.

May 2019: Participated in the Third International Conference in Palma.

December 2019: HRW made a submission to CEDAW: https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/12/23/submission-committee-elimination-discrimination-against-women-review-afghanistan.

April 2020: the Safe Schools Declaration was referenced by the Working Group in connection with the examination of the fourth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Afghanistan (document S/2019/727).

March 2020: the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women has now made its first reference to the Guidelines for Protecting Schools from Military Used during Armed Conflict, in its concluding observations regarding Afghanistan

Oct 2020: GCPEA Director attended a joint virtual meeting which brought together the Group of Friends of Afghanistan in New York, Group of Friends of Children and Armed Conflict in New York, and the Group of Friends of Children and Armed Conflict in Kabul, Afghanistan. In her intervention, Diya highlighted that attacks against students and education personnel accelerated dramatically during 2017-2019 and gave concrete recommendations to strengthen implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration.