Attachments
Conflict-affected, displaced and vulnerable populations
Introduction The vast majority of learners are now unable to attend school due to COVID-19 related school and learning institution closures and there is uncertainty as to when such measures will end, particularly in low-income and conflict-affected states. COVID-19, unlike other outbreaks of fatal illnesses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012 and the most recent outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in 2018, has been characterized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic due its scope and magnitude1 . Although COVID-19 is a global health crisis affecting most people globally, conflict-affected, displaced and vulnerable migrant populations are disproportionally affected by the pandemic.
The data from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre show 50.8million people were internally displaced due to conflict and disasters at the end of 2019, 55% of these internally displaced persons (IDPs) are under the age of 25. UNHCR figures put the total number of forcibly displaced people, including refugees, at 75 million. Furthermore, it is estimated that there are 75 million school-aged children living in 35 crisis-affected countries who are in the most desperate need of educational support3 . Displaced learners and those living in crisis-affected settings4 are already marginalized and highly vulnerable, with their right to education often unfulfilled and routinely violated. Even before the emergence of COVID-19, the challenges facing these learners were large, complex and daunting. The spread of COVID-19 further exacerbates their vulnerabilities, whilst related restrictions will negatively impact the delivery of humanitarian assistance including for education in emergencies (EiE). The COVID19 pandemic poses a grave threat to these communities and their ability to access and continue quality education.
Despite the efforts and progress on inclusion, barriers to education persist and could potentially worsen due to the pandemic. Learners in crisis-affected situations, and displaced persons and migrants more broadly, are now faced with increasing precarity due to a lack of social safety nets and the hardening of migration policies5 amongst other factors, with consequences for their ability to access and continue learning. In some contexts, displaced and migrant populations are already facing exposure to increasing levels of violence6 . This is occurring against the backdrop of nearly one third of those out of school being in crisis-affected countries.
Despite the pandemic, conflict, natural hazards and violence have not ceased, and continue to disrupt education posing threats to learners, notably their right to education. Tropical Cyclone Harold8 , recent floods and landslides Burundi9 , the continued displacement of Venezuelans10,11, along with escalating violence in Northern Mozambique12 and Mali since 2012 and five years of continuous conflict in Yemen13, to name a few, are a stark reminder that crises and displacement continue. Moreover, the populations affected by these crises are more likely to find themselves in conditions more favorable for higher COVID-19 transmission, such as camps and crowded urban settings, without access to any form of health services, let alone education and learning. Education responses to COVID-19 should pay particular attention to those who are conflict-affected, forcibly displaced and vulnerable migrants who are facing an alarming level of risk, in some contexts they are not even able to adopt the basic restrictive measures such as social distancing14.