Avons nous le devoir de faire le bonheur des autres

Motion for a resolution
by:

DROI – Committee on Human Rights

While access to education is a fundamental right in Europe, many children and young people are deprived of education because of conflicts, sometimes military, that disrupt government operations or put school infrastructures at risk. How can the European Union and its Member States ensure continuous access to education in situations of conflict?

The European Youth Parliament,

1. Expressing its outrage that 28.7 million children in the world were deprived of education due to conflicts in 2013,
2. Alarmed by the slow decision-making process of EU institutions which leads to a worsening of conflict situations and of the educational void,
3. Fully conscious that the global budget dedicated to maintaining education in conflict zones is insufficient,
4. Regretting the lack of awareness of populations concerning the risks and damages caused by discontinued access to education,
5. Concerned by the lack of non-financial humanitarian aid^[1] for education,
6. Observing the violation of article 8 of Rome Statute^[2] which enshrines a ban on attacking or bombing any civil building and therefore any school,
7. Aware that schools are priority targets in cases of armed conflict due to their importance and their symbolic value,
8. Realising that schools are often appropriated by the authorities to face emergency situations and for the administration of first aid,
9. Acknowledging with regret the difficulties in accessing education in refugee camps and conflict zones due to:

1. a general insecurity and lack of hygiene which degrades inhabitants’ living conditions,
2. the lack of a competent teaching body adapted to the conditions,

1. Recalling that importing a school curriculum is impossible without adapting it to the particularities of the state in question
2. Fully convinced of the necessity of a structure allowing:

1. a daily routine which is vital to the mind,
2. a feeling of a peaceful and  ‘normal’ life,
3. an alternative to the daily violence,

1. Bearing in mind the desire to avoid any kind of European and Western imperialism;

1. Affirms education as an urgent and constant humanitarian need;
2. Calls for a simplified decision-making process during emergencies by implementing an Emergency Committee on Education;
3. Requests the creation of a ‘Children of peace’ day recalling the programme launched by the EU in 2012^[3] and dedicated to:

1. raising awareness among European citizens about educational issues in conflict zones,
2. calling for the mobilisation of financial and non-financial resources to support education for everyone, including organising collections of teaching equipment,
3. highlighting the value of education within the humanitarian field,
4. fund-raising through donations;

1. Calls upon the Member states to financially support key Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), especially those specialised in raising awareness of the importance of education continuing in countries experiencing conflict;
2. Welcomes the private initiatives that encourage non-financial humanitarian aid to education;
3. Encourages the establishment of secure emergency shelters in schools in order to protect the students from attacks;
4. Draws attention to the possibility of developing and funding mobile schools;
5. Invites the EU and international organisations to cooperate in order to deploy a dissuasive armed force in front of schools ensuring that the immunity principle of school zones is respected;
6. Endorses the implementation of adapted training for teachers and the reactive deployment of voluntaries in sensitive zones;
7. Recommends the creation of educational programmes adapted to the local culture and educational situation;
8. Suggests the establishment of programmes that give children space to share and reflect, with the aim of raising their awareness of Human and Children’s Rights;
9. Reaffirms the essential need of setting up a stable and warm environment including:

1. general psychological care allowing personal development and faith in the future,
2. playful and formal school activities as alternatives to violence and as elements of a return to a normal life.

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