UNESCO Beirut held a side-event at UNESCO Paris at the margin on the 39th session of UNESCO’s General Conference, to launch UNESCO’s Strategic Framework for Education in Emergencies in the Arab Region (2018-2021).

As Education has been deeply affected by the scale of crisis in the Arab Region, with over 13 million children and youth not going to school due to conflict, UNESCO’s Strategic Framework for Education in Emergencies in the Arab Region (2018-2012) aims to respond to the Education crisis in the region through supporting Member States in meeting their educational needs, and helping them meet the commitments set out in SDG4 which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030. The Strategic Framework, jointly elaborated by UNESCO field offices in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Palestine, aims to increase access to quality learning opportunities for children and youth, to empower them with values, knowledge and skills for life and work, to support teachers and enhance the resilience of education systems.

The Strategic Framework consists of four strategic goals anchored in the three pillars of education: Access, Quality and System Strengthening.

In his opening remarks, Hamed Al Hammami, Director of UNESCO Beirut, said:''"Drawing from UNESCO’s comparative advantage and capitalizing on experience and achievements from our Syria crisis, our Strategic Framework for Education in Emergencies (EiE) hopes to support Member States to increase access to quality learning opportunities for children and youth, to empower them with values, knowledge and skills for life and work, to support teachers and enhance the resilience of education systems – in short - to meet their educational needs in times of crisis, while they strive to make headway on the targets and commitments in SDG 4, focusing on inclusion of the most vulnerable."

In her speech, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said: "Today, we see the one of the largest humanitarian crises of our times unfolding tragically in front of our eyes. The crisis in Syria, now in its 7th year, continues to plague the country and affect the region, exacerbated by ongoing conflicts in Yemen, Libya, and Iraq. The figures are telling: 1.73 million children in Syria are out of school; 3.3 million children in Yemen are out of school; 3.3 million youth and children in Iraq are in need of education assistance; 558 schools in Libya have been damaged, destroyed or used for sheltering displaced persons or the military; 74 percent of targeted youth from Syria in host countries do not access TVET and Higher Education".

Mrs Bokova called for action, stating that : "In situations of protracted crisis, as in the Arab Region, short-term relief is simply not enough. We need long-term solutions, to give children and youth a sense of hope in the future, and competences to rebuild their live.'' Mrs Bokova highlighted the value and importance of UNESCO’s Strategic Framework as an instrument to help Arab States cope with the crisis through ensuring continuous access to education, quality education, and through building resilient education systems.