On 19 June 2025, the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) delivered a joint statement during the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Ms. Farida Shaheed, at the 59th Session of the Human Rights Council. The statement was presented on behalf of a group of NGOs, including Save the Children, the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GADRRRES), and Plan International.

The dialogue marked the presentation of the Special Rapporteur’s new report on the right to be safe in education—an important milestone in expanding the understanding of safety in school. GCPEA had contributed a detailed submission to inform the report, which articulated States’ obligations to apply a rights-based approach to safety in education settings, including in the context of and in relation to armed conflict. 

Ms. Shaheed underscored the urgent need for a comprehensive, all-hazards, and whole-school approach to safeguarding students, teachers, and school communities:

“Safety is a multi-dimensional issue and needs an all-hazards approach. I urge all states to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration and Comprehensive School Safety Framework and use these for making their policies.” — Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education

Delivering the joint statement, GCPEA Advocacy and Policy Advisor Apolline Montoya welcomed the report’s robust call for States to adopt an all-hazards, context-specific, systemic approach to safety, rooted in the Safe Schools Declaration (SSD) and the Comprehensive School Safety Framework (CSSF).  She also voiced grave concern over the increasing military use of schools, including in peacetime, urging 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 ahead of the Fifth International Conference on the Safe Schools Declaration in Kenya this December.

Other speakers, including from Portugal, South Sudan, Armenia, Lebanon, Ecuador and Malaysia, echoed these calls, encouraging States to adopt and operationalize the Safe Schools Declaration through a whole-of-government approach—engaging education, environment, finance, civil protection, and national disaster management authorities.

Aligning with the Special Rapporteur’s findings, GCPEA’s statement voiced deep concern over attacks on education in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, and Haiti, calling for accountability, redress, and justice for violations of international law affecting learners and educators.

The statement concluded with support for the Special Rapporteur’s upcoming policy brief to the UN General Assembly in September, expected to further clarify legal obligations of States to protect education in conflict settings and emphasize the need for a systematic prohibition of military use of educational facilities.

Watch the full recording here. 

Building on this momentum, GCPEA also worked with supportive States to advance stronger language on the protection of education in the Human Rights Council’s resolution on the right to education, led by the Permanent Mission of Portugal. Adopted on 1 July, the resolution now urges States to:

• Accelerate efforts to prevent attacks on education during armed conflict;
• End impunity and ensure accountability and access to justice for victims; and
• Strengthen legal protections, including measures to criminalize and deter the military use of schools and universities.

Significantly, this is the first Human Rights Council resolution to explicitly call on States to take such criminalization measures—by implementing the SSD and its Guidelines.

GCPEA welcomes this important step forward, especially the resolution’s focus on accountability and legal deterrence. These advancements reflect and reinforce GCPEA’s growing focus on strengthening legal protections and promoting accountability, a theme that will feature prominently in upcoming advocacy efforts and our next news piece.