Vanuatu

October 2019: Our first meeting with Vanuatu. Nevena met with the Ambassador, a kind and gentle man. We had a very rich discussion about the scale of the problem, the gendered impact of attacks on education, and how the Declaration is relevant to Vanuatu. He became very emotional when speaking about his daughters’ education. Although Vanuatu is peaceful, the global and regional situation is unpredictable and they should take steps now to improve the protection of schools. He also thought they would send a strong signal of solidarity to children living in conflict by signing. I encouraged them to announce at the upcoming WPS open debate. Follow-up: Letter for Foreign Minister, gender recommendations, the factsheet on the implementation of the Declaration, and key points on why they should endorse. After the meeting, he responded advising that the Minister had agreed to sign the endorsement letter and that he will forward it to me as soon as it is signed.

November 2019: The Ambassador shared the endorsement letter on 11 November confirming his government commitment to promoting the protection of education, by signing the Safe Schools Declaration.