Today the United States endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, a political commitment to protect education during war. By signing, the US joins 120 countries working together to protect students, teachers, and schools from violent attacks.
Attacks on schools occur in almost every armed conflict around the world. Each year, thousands of students and teachers are killed and injured, schools destroyed, and children denied the future only education brings.
By signing the declaration, countries promise to investigate and prosecute attacks that violate the laws of war, help victims, try to continue education during wartime, restore access after attacks, and protect schools from military use.
In the decade since the declaration was first launched, more than a dozen countries have revised their military guidance to ensure more protection for schools and education. Several have prosecuted people responsible for attacking schools. UN peacekeepers have stopped deploying in schools.
US policy already supports the declaration’s key elements – for example, the US military includes schools in its official “no strike” lists, recognizing that schools not being used for military purposes are protected civilian property under the laws of war.
Signing the declaration puts the US on the right side of a global movement its main military allies have already joined. Given its influence, the US move could help expand the group of countries putting their political muscle behind children and their education, encouraging allies, such as Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea to join. Signing better allows the US to use the declaration’s guidance, written by military officers, to urge other countries to respect the laws of war, including when it trains other militaries. Protecting schools globally also protects the US’ significant investments in international education before, during, and after conflict.
The US signing of the declaration couldn’t be more timely or relevant. In the past year, almost every school in Gaza has been damaged or destroyed. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, more than 3,790 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed. Countries that have not yet endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration should move quickly to do so, and show that schools, teachers, and students are off-limits in times of war.
