Global survey on education in emergencies.

In 2000 at the World Education Forum in Dakar Senegal 180 countries committed to “ensuring that by 2015 all children particularly girls children in difficult circumstances [including those affected by war] and those belonging to ethnic minorities have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality” (UNESCO 2000). Despite this commitment education in emergencies remains undersupported. In addition there is no clear global picture of education programming in emergencies partially because there are a number of organizations—governmental United Nations nongovernmental (NGOs) religious—that provide much-needed education services in these situations and also because there is no centralized statistical reporting system for capturing the education data from all these sources. This Global Survey on Education in Emergencies (Global Survey) is an attempt to gather information on how many refugee displaced and returnee children and youth have access to education and the nature of the education they receive. The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children began the Global Survey in 2001 with initial support from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Accordingly the first wave of data collection focused on interviews and document review at the headquarters level of these three UN agencies. Subsequent data collection in 2002-2003 involved interviews and document review at the headquarters of various international NGOs direct requests to NGO field offices extensive internet-based research and four brief field visits to Angola Liberia Sierra Leone and Thailand to gather information directly from agencies supporting education for refugee and internally displaced children and youth. While information was collected on a broad range of education projects from formal to non-formal the primary focus was on formal education activities. (excerpt)