Educo NGO: Safe Schools Protected From Conflict, Disasters, Pandemics, and Other Risks

A World in Multiple Interconnected Crises

No matter what indicators, sources, or methods are used, the same conclusion is reached: world peace is getting worse year after year because of a steady increase in conflicts, especially in the last decade (UCDP, GPI. ICP).

On top of this, there is an upward trend in disasters. The frequency of disasters in this decade is between 315 and 432 events per year. Despite similar frequencies, the economic damage caused by crises in recent years has nearly doubled, indicating greater devastation (Emergency Action Planning).

However, these two phenomena do not run parallel to each other. In fact, the perverse combination of conflict and climate change is intertwined, generating devastating effects. Cases such as Gaza and Ukraine demonstrate how conflict can directly contribute to climate change. For instance, the emissions produced during the first 120 days of the Gaza conflict exceeded the annual emissions of 26 individual countries and territories(Otu-Larbi et al., 2024). However, these are not isolated cases. It is estimated that the military budgets of the world's armies are responsible for 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, not including emissions from warfare itself. If it were a country, it would have the fourth largest carbon footprint in the world (UNFCCC). Similarly, increased global warming can indirectly contribute to conflict by exacerbating tensions over issues such as food insecurity, water scarcity and competition for resources. According to the UNHCR, nearly half of all forcibly displaced people are affected by both conflict and the adverse effects of climate change.

These interlinked crises have once again resulted in record numbers, creating enormous humanitarian challenges. In 2024, 123.2 million people were displaced due to persecution, violence, conflict or human rights violations — a 6% increase on the previous year. The number of internally displaced persons due to disasters in 2024 was almost double the annual average for the last decade, reaching 45.8 million(IDMC, 2,025). The number of people facing acute food insecurity has reached an unprecedented 295.3 million.(Global Network Against Food Crises 2,025 2,024).

Children and adolescents have not been spared from this devastating wave. During 2024, 41,370 serious violations against children and adolescents were documented, representing a 25% increase compared to the previous year (UN, 2025).

The impact of these multiple crises is clearly reflected in the growing number of people who are directly affected by them and who depend on humanitarian aid to survive. By mid-2025, 300 million people were in need of aid, representing 4% of the world's population(OCHA). This exceptional increase over the last six years has seen the number of people in need double.

Impact on schools and the right to education

Schools are at the epicentre of these interlinked crises. They are subject to attacks, used for military purposes, damaged, or destroyed by extreme weather events. Like other infrastructure, they face a multiplier effect of various risks that can occur simultaneously or consecutively, ultimately preventing them from being used for their intended purpose. As a result, the right to education is disrupted, being one of the first rights to be lost in a crisis and one of the last to be restored.

For Educo, protecting the right to education in any emergency has been a priority over the last decade. We believe that education is fundamental and must be preserved in all circumstances. To this end, schools are key: safe, protective schools that serve as a secure reference point for children, adolescents and their families.

The data is then analysed according to the type of threat, taking into account that there may be some specific consequences (see Annex), which usually lead to common effects, as will be demonstrated in the following section.

Destruction or damage caused by climate emergencies

Disasters and crises have a global impact on education. Between 2022 and 2024, more than 400 million students were affected by school closures due to the climate crisis, and 242 million children had their schooling interrupted by extreme weather events in 2024 alone.

However, these consequences do not affect all countries equally. In 2024, students in low-income countries missed an average of 45 days of school, compared to an average of just six days for students in high-income countries. If risk exposure is combined with low income, the effects can be devastating. For instance, between January 2022 and June 2024, students in the Philippines experienced 23 periods of school closure. In Pakistan, students missed 97 days of school (almost 54 per cent of a normal academic year).

Historical data suggests that these phenomena will have a greater and more far-reaching impact on the education sector. Over the past 20 years, schools have been closed on at least 75% of occasions when extreme weather events linked to climate change have affected 5 million people or more.

Attacks due to violence or conflict

The Education under Attack 2024 report by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) found that between 2022 and 2023 there were approximately 6,000 attacks on education (schools, universities, military use of facilities) worldwide, an increase of almost 20% compared to the previous two years (2020-2021). Compared to 2024, the United Nations points out that this represents an increase of 44%.

This increase is mainly due to a series of crises in several countries, particularly between 2022 and 2023, during which time a large number of schools were attacked;

• Democratic Republic of Congo (1,256); Ukraine (700); Palestine (642); Gaza (350); Burkina Faso (493); Yemen (482); Myanmar (245).

A close-up of the impact

* Ukraine

• Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, hundreds of schools have been damaged, destroyed or used as shelters.
• More than five million children have had their studies interrupted.
• Many educational institutions are currently offering remote or hybrid learning due to significant infrastructure damage and constant risks of bombing or military use of educational spaces.

* Gaza

• One of the countries most affected by serious violations in the educational context.
• In Gaza, hundreds of thousands of children are out of school, and many educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed.
• 13,500 students have been killed, and 785,000 have been deprived of their right to education. More than 800 teachers have been killed or injured.
• Schools have been converted into shelters, school facilities have been taken over for military use, and fear has spread among the student population.
• It is estimated that they have lost three years of learning.

Impact of pandemics or health crises

The COVID-19 pandemic affected more than 1.6 billion students and young people. Between February 2020 and February 2022, education systems around the world completely stopped in-person teaching for an average of 141 days.

On a global average, each month of school closures equated to a full month of lost learning, highlighting the limited effectiveness of distance learning. In some cases, the results were even worse. In Latin America, for example, where schools were closed for one of the longest periods, it is estimated that learning losses would result in a 12 per cent decrease in lifetime earnings for current students.

The pandemic has set back progress on virtually all SDG 4 indicators: access, learning, equity, financing and quality. According to reports by the United Nations, achieving many of the SDG 4 targets has become both more costly and more difficult. Specifically, educational poverty—the inability to read and understand a simple text at age 10—increased to approximately 70% in low- and middle-income countries in 2022 due to the pandemic.

Five years later, weaknesses remain, including cuts or failure to consolidate extraordinary resources, a lack of sustained investment in support staff, and a digital divide in specific sectors. These weaknesses limit the capacity to deal with another crisis of similar magnitude, should it occur.

Effects on the right to education

Short term effects

• Interruption to classroom-based teaching: partial or total closure of schools; loss of teaching hours.
• Loss of access and digital divide: students without connectivity are excluded from distance learning.
• Paralysis of complementary services: suspension of school meals, psychological support, healthcare and protection services.
• Risks to physical safety: damage to infrastructure, risk of injury or death (in conflicts/disasters).
• Mobility and displacement: movements of internally displaced persons or refugees affecting existing resources, enrolment and planning.
• Increased school dropout rates and higher risk of child labour: especially among vulnerable groups (girls, poor households).
• Acute psychosocial impact: stress, grief, and anxiety affecting students and teachers.
• Staff disruption: absenteeism, loss of teachers and managers; work overload.

Long term effects

• Cumulative educational deficit: sustained loss of learning and increased educational poverty.
• Greater educational inequality: widening gaps based on gender, socioeconomic status, disability, and territory.
• Structural damage and reconstruction costs: need for investment to rehabilitate and adapt infrastructure. In early 2025, it was estimated that the cost of rebuilding the education system in Gaza would be 3.8 billion dollars over the next five years.
• Loss of teaching staff: teacher departures or staff reductions, difficulties in continuing teacher training.
• Deterioration of the school environment and social capital: less trust in educational institutions and loss of community cohesion.
• Intergenerational socio-economic effects: poorer future employment prospects and greater economic vulnerability.
• Changes in educational demand: changing migration flows are putting a strain on the already fragile education systems of host countries and communities.

Complementarity of international frameworks

As has been pointed out, in a world where crises are linked but have varied origins, the education system needs a broad, comprehensive approach that provides the necessary tools for preparing for, mitigating, responding to and rebuilding in the face of multiple risks.

There are currently several international frameworks that are highly complementary and offer a coherent approach to ensuring resilient and safe schools in the face of different risks.

While countries experiencing an emergency may have national education plans in place, these frameworks should complement each other and ensure that such plans are implemented during times of crisis.

The Minimum Standards of the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), created in 2004, are a global framework that seeks to guarantee the right to quality education in any type of emergency. To do this, it establishes five domains that are interconnected under the triple nexus approach (development, humanitarian action and peacebuilding, covering all phases of an emergency.

The Comprehensive School Safety Framework (CSSF) 2022–2030 is supported by the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GADRRRES) was established in 2013 with the backing of UNESCO, UNICEF, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. More than 70 countries have already joined.

It aims to protect the educational community from natural, climatic, health or man-made threats (ranging from war and violence to bullying), guaranteeing educational continuity and wellbeing at school through preparation, mitigation, response and reconstruction.