Estonia

2015: Followed SSD consultations in Geneva. Didn’t speak but shared some of the concerns expressed by Germany and others. Gva mission met with Diya in April 2015, but didn’t facilitate capital meetings. Second attempt in June 2016, unresponsive.

July 2016: Meeting in capital (Bede) + NY (Diya – Estonian ambassador): He and the expert said they are completely convinced of the importance of endorsing the Declaration and cannot understand why their government won’t. Concerns about Nato don’t make any sense to them as many NATO countries have endorsed. They will try and do whatever they can to get their country to endorse. They may not be able to make a statement at the debate as they are very short staffed as everyone is on holiday but they will try. meeting with MFA and MoD. Both well briefed, seems MFA is supportive but MoD not. Unclear what exactly the concern is.

September 2016: Meeting with Riia Salsa, First Secretary at the Mission of Estonia. She advised that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense still do not have a common position on the Guidelines. While the Guidelines align with the MoFA’s horizontal priorities, on education and children, as long as the MoD has reservations, they are in a difficult position. They do not want to endorse unless they are sure that they will implement, and they are not sure if the time is right to make changes to their military manuals, etc. Their key questions are how the Guidelines would relate to military schools, and also the fact that civilian buildings are recognized as military objectives under IHL when occupied. It seems that frustration with the process of how the Guidelines were developed, and how concerns were not taken on board during the consultations, is a major obstacle. Estonia had also asked Norway to be included as in observer when the Guidelines were being developed but was refused. This seems to have been received badly, in light of their close cooperation in other areas. Riia advised that, in advance of our meeting, she had spoken to a few endorsing countries (EU member states, I’m guessing) to ask what the follow up to endorsement had entailed. Her impression was that there had been no follow up on implementation with those countries. This she viewed as discouraging. She also asked if we were in discussions with Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the UK, key non-endorsing states. It seems Estonia is looking to those countries for (indirect) guidance. She also stated that, while it is encouraging that endorsements are increasing, Estonia had viewed the low number of endorsing states at the Oslo conference as a failure. She asked how Ireland had come to the decision to endorse. I advised that, while we had also had concerns about the process, we ultimately supported the substance and that, being a neutral country with education as a priority, we would have found it difficult to defend the position not to endorse. She seemed to sympathise with this, but pointed to Estonia’s different position as a NATO country. I took the opportunity to mention that 13 NATO member states have endorsed, among them 10 EU member states, which she took a note of. Riia was very interested in the upcoming Addis workshop and the Argentina conference. She would like to receive a draft program of the Addis workshop, and is interested to hear about the outcomes. She asked if there would be more regional workshops, and I outlined our plans for these. She would also like to receive a copy of the letter that HRW has sent to the new Foreign Minister. I asked, as an outcome of the meeting, if she would please do her best to ensure the issue is on the new Foreign Minister’s radar. In summary, it would seem to be that Geneva is not the best entry point, and that approaches at capital level might be more effective, but that Geneva does wish to be kept in the loop. The Ministry of Defense remains the key sticking point, so perhaps we need to engage with them directly, if possible.

April 2017: New humanitarian focal point in Geneva mission in advance of EU Presidency.

May 2017: GCPEA wrote to the Mission in Geneva to update them on the Declaration, and also advised them that there is an online petition with more than 50,000 signatories calling on Estonia to endorse.

June 2017: New York Mission contacted GCPEA to request a meeting for information on joining the Declaration and the commitments. They eventually advised GCPEA that they had all the information they needed for the time being and would be in touch if they needed more.

July 2017: GCPEA met with Estonia in Geneva to advocate for endorsement of the Declaration.

August 2017: Since Estonia refused the meeting request for Gisela and Jacqui in Brussels, it was decided that some public pressure is required. Bede has prepared a gif and photograph for use on social media on Friday 1 September, to coincide with the re-opening of schools. He plans to place an op ed in the Estonian media, and is working with colleagues based in Greece who have gathered stories from refugees fleeing Iraq and Syria. Bede to place op ed in Estonian media. Bede to share social media materials for back to school in Estonia.

September 2017: The MFA is supportive, but the MoD is against endorsement. The expert in Geneva recommended that an opinion from UNICEF in favour of endorsement could be influential. Save the Children and Human Rights Watch in Brussels have both advised that leveraging endorsement by Ukraine (when confirmed) will also help to increase pressure. Human Rights Watch has been targeting Estonia on Twitter in light of their EU Presidency, which will finish at the end of 2017. Based on advice that Estonia views UNICEF as a strong partner, it was suggested to explore the possibility of asking the UNICEF national committee in Estonia to issue a letter to the Prime Minister.

October 2017: Cristal attended a meeting with the Counsellor Rena Tasuja and the Second Secretary Birgit Naur in order to conduct advocacy in lead-up to the Open Debate on CAAC, with the goal of encourage Estonia to include certain messages in their interventions. The representativessaid that the materials that Cristal sent were forwarded to the relevant people in capital, where the intervention is being drafted. Capital has not yet sent the statement back to NY, so they were not sure what will be in it. They also said that had not recently received any updates from capital, Brussels, or Geneva about their possible endorsement. They were well-informed on the Declaration, and asked to Cristal to send a follow-up email this morning so that they could use it to follow up internally. Cristal consulted with Gisela and has sent this out.

February 2018: In advance of OPAC turns 18 event, GCPEA issued letter highlighting that Estonia has signed OPAC, Paris, and Vancouver, but not the Declaration,and calling for endorsement.

June 2018: Amy and Gisela met with Ms. Terje Raadik, First Secretary. She took note of the growing number of EU and Council of Europe endorsements and was particularly interested in examples of implementation. She pledged to share the update with capital. She does not hold the file and will return to capital in July. Gisela followed up in writing, sharing a letter for the Foreign Minister and received a friendly reply. The expert in Geneva advised that she had seen a very positive report from New York.

July 2018: Estonia co-sponsored resolution 2427 (2018).Mentioned and welcomed Mali’s endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration during the statement to the SC on behalf of the Baltic states. Estonia also joined the statement of Canada on behalf of the GoF which mentioned the Safe Schools Declaration.

September 2018: Nevena and Gisela met with the new Deputy Permanent Representative for Estonia. She was very friendly, but advised that there has not been any change in their position. Foreign Affairs is supportive but the Ministry of Defence continues to be cautious.
Key points: The MFA continues to be supportive, but the MoD is reluctant. She did not have concrete concerns to share, however. She hoped that Estonia’s position on protection of children and education in conflict was clear, as evidenced by their co-sponsorship of UNSCR 2427. Estonia will have parliamentary and European elections in 2019 so she felt it is not a good time for endorsement. They are concerned that endorsement could be criticised in the election campaign. We discussed Germany’s change in position, including their candidature in UNSC elections as a catalyst towards endorsement. She said that the topic has not come up during Estonia’s ongoing UNSC election campaign. They are aware of the rising level of endorsement in the EU and NATO. She was interested in receiving updates on the positions of Croatia and Hungary. I flagged the planned briefing to COHOM and COHAFA in Brussels, our hope for full EU endorsement, and mentioned the European Commission policy and the growing support for the Declaration within the EU as an institution. She suggested that the Baltics would not endorse without common agreement to do so. It would be “confusing” for Estonia to endorse without Latvia and Lithuania also joining. Security concerns regarding Russia continue to be the key obstacle, and they view the Baltic states as being in a “peculiar” situation due to their location. She encouraged us to continue working on getting endorsement by “big states”, i.e. Russia and the US.We welcomed the joint statement Estonia delivered on behalf of the Baltic states at the open debate on children and armed conflict, and how they welcomed Mali’s endorsement. They have peacekeepers there so we provided an update on Save the Children’s plans to support implementation, together with MINUSMA. She expressed the hope that Estonia would be invited to the Spain conference, which we said they would. She noted that they are already doing a lot that is in line with the Declaration commitments and suggested they would be happy to share information on this at the conference. She commended the presentation of Education Under Attack 2018, and noted that it and the framework for action are both useful tools. She also welcomed the translation of the Declaration and Guidelines into Estonian. Next steps: Consider how we can capitalise on their UNSC election campaign to increase political pressure to endorse. Consider requesting a bilateral meeting in Brussels. Consider bilateral visit to Tallinn to seek meeting with MoD, although with upcoming elections the timing may not be ideal. We are also in contact with the Mission in New York, having met with them in June, as part of advocacy ahead of the upcoming UNSC open debate on women, peace and security. Gisela followed up by email and attached the UN WPS letter addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

September 2018: Ahead of the UN WPS open debate, GCPEA a letter addressed to Foreign Minister sent to the Mission in New York. The letter encourages the government to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration and advocate for continued access to quality, conflict-sensitive education for women and girls.

October 2018: UN WPS Open Debate advocacy in New York: Gisela had a brief discussion with their capital representative who is part of the campaign for the UN Security Council elections in 2019. She felt that it would be useful if Norway raised the matter in the Nordic-Baltic Forum. The three Baltic states are likely to move together on endorsement. Gisela flagged to her that she would be briefing the EU member states at a joint meeting of COHOM and COHAFA on 11 October. Follow-up: Letter for Foreign Minister and gender recommendations sent by email. GCPEA will encourage Norway to raise this in the Nordic-Baltic Forum.

February 2019: GCPEA met with the Deputy Permanent Representative, who advised that there had been no change in Estonia’s position. The MFA supportive, but the MoD is not. The MoD is already committed to the substance, in principle, but implementation of the Declaration would require a change to their defence strategy, which they are reluctanist to undertake.
Moreover, although Estonia has signed the Vancouver Principles, the government’s experience of public backlash concerning the Global Compact on Migration was likely to have hardened their position and made them even more reluctant to sign another international commitment, even if education is a popular priority and the issues addressed by the Declaration are not currently a domestic concern. As elections are upcoming, the government has no political will on this issue. Estonia is confident of their chances in the UN Security Council elections in June 2019, when they are running against Romania. The DPR expressed a willingness to work with GCPEA on protection of education during their membership, even if endorsement of the Declaration is not possible. Follow-up: GCPEA followed up in writing, sharing a letter for the Foreign Minister.

October 2019: Zama met with the DPR and UNSC, Sanctions Expert. They say that they are personally very supportive but the obstacle is the ministry of defense. Officially the answer is that “Estonia is still assessing the implications for its defense policy. “They have a new military attaché col Salekesin. They suggested reaching out in a month or so. He will be in New York for their tenure on the council. He was a military attaché in Moscow for the last three years. They also recommended getting out reach from Norway, Poland, Finland, and Sweden. They are particularly interested in women peace and security. They will also share the sudan and iraq sanctions committee. Zama followed up with more on gender and the safe schools decoration fact shee

November 2019: Bede had a conversation conversation with the Chair of the Estonian Refugee Council, who is keen to help us get Estonia to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration. He promised to approach two other Estonian NGOs and see if they would like to join an advocacy letter addressed ministries, foreign affairs, education, and social welfare.

January 2020: Thirty-two Estonian civil society organizations sent a joint letter to the Prime Minister, relevant Ministers, the President’s office, Councellor of Justice’s office, and the Parliament, calling for Estonia to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration.
The op-ed in Estonian: https://www.err.ee/1028526/eero-janson-koolid-on-oppimiseks-mitte-sodimiseks.

March 2020: Eero (Chair of the Estonian Refugee Council) has received some official replies regarding the joint letter, 2 from Parliament committees (both referring the issue to another) and 1 from the Ministry of Social Affairs (supportive of the cause but referring it to the MoD). The Prime Minister is still waiting for comments from the ministries. The MFA said that there has been a inter-agency meeting on SSD and that MoD is preparing a detailed analysis on the possibilities and impact of joining.

May 2020: GCPEA met with the Mission in New York ahead of the PoC held under their Presidency. GCPEA congratulated Estonia on their endorsement and explained the importance of drawing synergies with the Safe Schools Declaration as an application and implementation of existing law to ensure protection; and elaborated on its advocacy around the debate. It was emphasized that the PoC debate is the only context where the issue of attacks on higher education can be covered. GCPEA encouraged them to include the protection of education from attack in the concept note for the debate.

June 2021: GCPEA met with Estonia, presiding over the UNSC CAAC open debate this year. The representative said that the debate would have a broader focus this year, with still a strong emphasis on gender, considering the participation of high-level speakers, including the Secretary-General. She took GCPEA’s recommendations but said unfortunately they wouldn’t be in a position to directly refer to the SSD in their statement as they are trying to keep a low profile. We discussed the three remaining non-endorsing EU states, particularly Latvia and Lithuania, and inquired if Estonia might be interested to conduct peer-to-peer advocacy. She explained that Estonia wanted to keep a low profile, particularly with its neighbouring countries, and instead suggested that we reach out bilaterally to them at capital level.

December 2021: positive statement at arria meeting on the protection of education during armed conflict citing SSD. “Compliance with international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, is the cornerstone for ensuring the protection of children affected by conflict. The lack of accountability for these violations – which remains the norm – risks their recurrence. We also have a significant and broadly supported body of best practice, including the Safe Schools Declaration, to build awareness and knowledge.” They heavily emphasized the gender aspect of these attacks throughout the statement.“Estonia has made the protection of children affected by armed conflict one of its priorities as a member of the Security Council. … We remain ready to work with all partners to achieve the objectives of resolution 2601.”

October 2021: cosponsored UNSRC2601.

July 2022: At the UNSC CAAC debate : Condemn attacks on girls’ education, including in Afghanistan. Condemn deliberate attacks on schools in Ukraine.