Her Highness’ Speech at International Day to Protect Education from Attack

Last week, here in France and in most European countries, the summer holidays ended and the academic year commenced. In households across the continent, children picked up their books and backpacks and returned to their classrooms. Campuses and playgrounds came to life with the sounds of discussion, games, and laughter.

This is perfectly normal, for the beginning of term. But, for several terms, across the past three years, it didn’t happen. As a pandemic swept our world, public and private buildings closed. School buildings sat empty and silent. Children remained at home, isolated from each other. And yet, for the most part, they did not stop learning.

Policymakers, tech companies and teachers may have scrambled, and the results may not have been perfect, but something rather wonderful happened. These entities collaborated, at great speed, to find ways to teach children through the internet, or the radio, or whatever means they could find.

Some children fell through the cracks, it’s true. Some did not have parents able to supervise their lessons. Some did not have laptops or tablets or even mobile phones. But the fact remains that millions of children continued to be educated throughout the pandemic, in ways that had never been widely used before. Out of the crisis, leaders, teachers and ordinary members of the community created new ways to ensure children continued to learn.

The world’s reaction to a pandemic may have disrupted education, but learning did not stop. Through ingenuity and invention, children continued to study, and — last week — those children returned to school.

But — around the world — millions of children did not. Millions whose journey to school was too dangerous to make. Millions whose school buildings were destroyed or damaged, or occupied by soldiers. Millions who simply do not have access to education because of conflict.

When a pandemic hit, we did something about it. When a pandemic hit, we knew it was time to act — to work in new and innovative ways. An international crisis catalysed creativity and transformation. But when schools are bombed, and teachers are killed, we allow affected children — those who have survived — to continue their lives without education. They are pushed off the very path that will lead them to a better future.

Ladies and gentlemen out of one crisis, we mobilised, instantly, to develop new ways to teach and learn. We used zoom, a technology we had barely heard of before 2020. Teachers shared screens rather than write on a blackboard. Children practised teamwork via breakout rooms.

We didn’t wait then — so why are we not responding now, with solutions to another great crisis: the crisis of attacks on education?

Two years ago, in the middle of the pandemic, I spoke to mark the first International Day to Protect Education from Attack. It was far from the first time I have spoken about this subject. For nearly a quarter of a century, I and my team have tried to convince the international community that educating children matters — and this includes all children. All children matter. Poor children, isolated children, and children who live in, or flee, war zones.

For years we have chipped away at the apathy displayed by world leaders and policymakers. We have made incremental steps in achieving a global norm condemning attacks on education. Last October, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2601. And yet, since then, thousands of attacks have taken place.

In 2020 the number of attacks on education increased by one-third compared to 2019 and remained just as high in 2021. All indications suggest that in 2022 they will continue to rise. Yemen, Ukraine, Palestine, Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria… in countries too many to list, attacks occur with heartbreaking frequency. From Mali to Myanmar, from Syria to Sudan and from Cameroon to Colombia, attacks on schools, on teachers, and on students are taking place without cease.

These countries are not mere lines on a map. These students and teachers are not simply statistics in a newspaper. They are people — real people — people who deserve to learn and live and laugh — to teach and to study, unhindered and free.

Those who would prevent them from doing so — those who would destroy education — they are real people too. They are organisations — they are militias — they are states. They are criminals. As such, they can be brought to account for their actions. If we ignore these criminals, they do not go away. They persist in deliberately targeting students, teachers and schools — in deliberately targeting education.

Strike a school— strike education — and you strike the very heart of a community and its culture. And in tearing the fabric of a society, you shatter the future for each and every child. Their hopes and dreams lost, the cycle of poverty and violence continues.

In my speech two years ago, I spoke of my frustration at watching the schools we have built being destroyed, and of my frustration at the lack of action from the international community. My frustration has not diminished.

Sometimes I feel like a broken record, the needle stuck in the same place, repeating myself over and over. Sometimes, when despair has threatened, I have wondered if conflict in the global north would push those in power, to understand the reality that is faced by real people in war zones the world over. Would it make them empathise? Would it force them to act?

Now there is war in Europe itself  — and at last there is action — but only for some. While the world has leapt to provide for some refugees, elsewhere the children of conflict are unseen and ignored.

Yet, education is the very weapon these children can use to overcome the challenges they face. Through education, our young people learn the skills they need to find a job, to contribute to their communities, to feed themselves and their families. They develop critical thinking, resilience and the ability to adapt to their own environment.

No child is more worthy than any other. Every child deserves the opportunity, to develop their intellect, and to fulfil their potential. Every child deserves a future.

We cannot ignore this any longer. Today’s theme is “time to act”, but it has been time to act for a very long time. It is long past the time to act. We cannot continue to meet once a year, to pat ourselves on the back and be glad that we care. Renewing our commitment is all well and good — but that commitment is not something to act on in the future. The time to act is now.

In my frustration, I have frequently asked my team at Education Above All — What can we do? In the absence of international action, how do we move that broken needle? How can we ensure that those responsible for destroying education are brought to justice?

Alongside UNESCO and Kobo we are developing TRACE — a portal that analyses and demonstrates data in a unique and accessible way. TRACE can be used by students, academics, journalists, policymakers and all who are interested in understanding and countering attacks on education. It will be a single-entry-point to statistics, information and resources.

We invite technology companies, and you yourselves, to join us in expanding the portal, so that eventually everyone can contribute, to painting the picture of attacks on education worldwide. So that everyone can contribute to building the evidence that is crucial to accountability. There can be no more excuses.

I ask you also to turn your minds to ways we can educate all our young refugees, all our displaced youth, all our children. Because we, the international community, are failing and we must do more.

We must bring all that we have to this problem — our collective minds — our creativity, our expertise, and the will to succeed. We cannot remain numb to the destruction around us, nor immune to the despair of so many. Please, let’s demonstrate the principles we profess to hold.