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Quality Education
A global comparative analysis
The Asia-Pacific Central American and the Caribbean East African and South-Eastern European regions are among the most vulnerable in the world in the face of climate change.
Learning at Risk: The Impact of Climate Displacement on the Right to Education
The growing impacts of climate change and displacement on education can no longer be ignored. The increasing number of people displaced due to climate change faces unique vulnerabilities especially in terms of access to education. This challenge is not only attributed to the often limited political and legal recognition of these displaced persons but also stems from the global community’s lack of awareness of the diverse obstacles they encounter in seeking access to education. This global report which concludes the “Initiative on the impact of climate change and displacement on the right to education” aims to provide guidance to policy-makers worldwide on how to better respect protect and fulfil the right to education of climate-displaced people. It provides an overview of climate-induced barriers to education and global policy guidance on how to ensure the protection of the right to education of these populations. The report will inform UNESCO’s Initiative on “The evolving right to education within a lifelong learning perspective” which is investigating how the right to education as enshrined in international normative instruments could be strengthened to meet modern needs in our rapidly changing societies.
Findings from the East African region
The East African region is frequently in the news for a variety of grave world affairs: conflict terrorism poverty famine and more. Uganda an East African state with a population of over 47 million often brings to mind a complicated and saddening history of civil wars child soldiers and shocking brutality. While Uganda’s economic development and growth has been impressive it is largely confined to Kampala its capital city leaving the rest of the country in moderate to severe poverty. Uganda ranks 166thon the Human Development Index has a high rate of poverty – up to 82% in certain districts – has an economy and labour force that still relies heavily on agriculture and has a mean of only 57 years of schooling (UNDP 2021).
Conclusion and way forward
Climate change is a phenomenon with no boundaries; its effects are being seen across the world from Asia-Pacific to South-Eastern Europe and in between. However the four regions studied in the context of this global report are certainly among those the most affected and can be considered the world’s climate change “hot spots” with increasingly erratic rainfall leading to deadly flooding; intensified cyclones and hurricanes; and drought that is leading people to new destinations within their countries - such as in India - as well as across borders - such as between Somalia and Kenya.
Acknowledgements
This report was produced by the Section of Education Policy of the Education Sector of UNESCO. It is part of a global “Initiative on the impact of climate change and displacement on the right to education” launched by UNESCO in 2020.
Global policy guidance and promising practices
Taking into account the barriers to education – both the diverse barriers more present in certain areas as well as the common barriers experienced in each region – the following are policy guidance aimed at Member States and policy-makers worldwide that span across multiple fields from law and policy to school-level to cross-sector collaboration and financing. Such policy guidance aims to improve the preparedness and resilience of education systems to the effects of climate change and displacement in all patterns be it temporary displacement permanent migration cross-border displacement or planned relocation.
Introduction
For the past several decades scientists have warned the world that the effects of global warming and climate change would be serious: intensified storms increased flooding disastrous drought and famine loss of marine biodiversity and land disappearing under water. Only recently however has the international community drawn attention to the fact that climate change will not only have effects on the earth itself but on human mobility as well (ECDPM 2019).
Findings from the Asia-Pacific region
In 2020 alone 30.7 million internal displacements were induced by natural disasters (IDMC 2021) – disasters which the scientific community acknowledges are more intense as a result of climate change (Berardelli 2019). Of this total 214 million displacements took place in Asia-Pacific (IDMC 2022) rendering it the region by far the most impacted by natural disasters and climate change in the world. Country case studies were carried out in Bangladesh India Indonesia Tuvalu and Viet Nam to examine not only specific vulnerabilities to climate change and the related mobility but also the impacts of climate change on the right to education in the Asia-Pacific region.
Executive summary
Climate change and its effects have been highlighted more frequently and with more urgency in media across the globe during the past decade. This phenomenon – which is threatening livelihoods biodiversity sustainability and human settlements – is only expected to worsen. In 2023 with the return of El Niño phenomenon1 scientists are expecting the effects of climate change to be further exacerbated – with unprecedented heat waves drought wildfires and intensified severe weather events (Mahdawi 2023).
Teaching principles
Whether a teacher has experience teaching about atrocity crimes or is new to the topic these teaching principles offer key considerations for helping to have sensitive and meaningful engagement with learners about atrocity crimes.
Key concepts and definitions
This chapter explains what atrocity crimes are and why definitions matter.
Teaching to Prevent Atrocity Crimes: A Guide for Teachers in Africa
Jointly published by UNESCO and the United Nations Department of Global Communications this guide seeks to assist teachers from Africa in preparing and designing lessons about atrocity crimes including genocide. It provides teachers with background knowledge teaching principles and concrete pedagogies to educate about complex histories and to navigate related classroom discussions. The legacies of atrocity crimes such as the transatlantic slave trade and slavery colonialism and the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda continue to affect societies across Africa. Through teaching about these histories and the example of the Holocaust learners can be encouraged to acknowledge the historic injustices and understand the dangers of hate speech and prejudice. Teaching the history of atrocity crimes can build learners’ knowledge and skills and can help to prevent violence by cultivating solidarity knowledge and respect for other cultures and identities. Teachers require support in this task. This guide provides teachers with relevant subject and pedagogical knowledge to meet the challenges of teaching about atrocity crimes. This guide enables teachers in Africa to strengthen a culture of peace in their classrooms schools and communities through fostering their learners’ abilities to engage respectfully and responsibly in discussions about difficult or sensitive pasts. It aims to build teachers’ skills and confidence to teach about histories of atrocity while nurturing human rights values and behaviours.
Introduction
This teachers’ guide was developed by UNESCO and the United Nations in cooperation with the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA). It contributes to UNESCO’s Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2022-2029)1 that includes a specific Flagship Programme on the General History of Africa (GHA) and programme on Global Citizenship Education (Target 4.7 of Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Education) which includes programmes to address violent pasts through education notably the Holocaust and to prevent genocide.
Taking learning beyond the classroom
Ideally education about atrocity crimes should not stop in the classroom. Teachers can seize opportunities to broaden the scope and the reach of a study of atrocity crimes through a whole-school community-oriented or lifelong learning approach that enables greater context and impact.
Foreword
No country has been spared the scourge of prejudice that lies at the heart of atrocity crimes. The legacies of violent pasts affect all societies. In Africa the brutality of the transatlantic trade and trafficking in human beings colonialism civil war and racism wreaked havoc on the lives of those living on the continent. The legacies of such histories continue to shape the contemporary terrain.