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New Online Platform to Build Resilience in Education Launched by IIEP-UNESCO, in Collaboration with Education Above All

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Doha, Qatar (21 September 2021) - Education4Resilience, an online platform to help education systems build resilience in and through education for a more peaceful and just world, launched with a new look and features on Tuesday - the International Day of Peace - by the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO), in partnership with the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation.

Education4Resilience provides resources, guidelines, tools, and other features that will support educational professionals - from policy-makers to planners - as they build back better education, with a focus on protecting the right to quality education for all.

"The time for resilience is now," said Karen Mundy, Director of IIEP-UNESCO. "COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerability of all education systems to various hazards and risks. To support educational planners and managers, the new Education4Resilience platform offers a wealth of guidance and some 700 resources on how to prepare the sector to respond to emergencies, protect learning for all, and ultimately unleash the power of education to help prevent further crises from arising."

The website is an up-to-date and comprehensive source on a range of issues affecting access to quality education, including:

  • Key resources on supporting education during COVID-19
  • Guidance and tools for crisis-sensitive planning and curriculum
  • An updated library with research and resources on education in emergencies, country response and risk management plans and policies, searchable by theme, resource type, region and country, language, and date of publication
  • News section with curated articles on resilience in education, IIEP updates and publications, and guest articles
  • Ability to provide feedback, contact the IIEP team, and use an optimised search function

Moreover, the website is especially relevant as the challenges facing access to quality education in the world today are complex, evolving, and arising every day.

*"We are seeing conflict, natural hazards, climate change, and epidemics lead to severe disruptions in learning and the destruction of school infrastructure. In our joint global effort with IIEP-UNESCO to protect education against the devastating impacts of conflict and insecurity, resources such as the Education4Resilience platform are essential to provide comprehensive online tools and guidance that can overhaul the way we approach education in crisis. To bring the world's students back into schools, and safely keep them there, we must jointly mitigate risks and ensure the continuation of education despite conflict and prevent future learning losses," explained Maleiha Malik, Executive Director of EAA's Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict (PEIC) Programme. *

Education4Resilience comes amid unprecedented disruption in the world's education systems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which at its peak affected over 1.6 billion learners globally. Many education systems did not have a contingency plan already in place. The pandemic has therefore highlighted the importance of crisis-sensitive educational planning to mitigate the impact of future crises.

Key Messages
Children in fragile and conflict-affected places are more than twice as likely to be out of school as their peers who live in safe and stable environments.

Education4Resilience can help ministries of education, development, and humanitarian partners understand crisis-sensitive educational planning and identify the range of risks facing education today. The website can also help users mitigate the impact of crises on education service delivery while at the same time fostering the development of education policies and programmes that will help prevent future crises from arising in the first place.

A key part of crisis-sensitive educational planning is overcoming inequity and exclusion in education, which can exacerbate the risk of conflict when left unchecked.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that no country is immune to crises that can upend education systems and interrupt learning. The resources and information available on this website will help education professionals in all contexts and settings use education to transform the world into one that is more inclusive, equitable, sustainable, and healthy.

By providing education planners and managers with the latest information on how to maintain educational services, address equity and quality issues, and collect and use data and information, education systems will be in a better position to maintain educational services and learning opportunities for all. The provision of information and best practices -- such as those shared on Education4Resilience - are key to making this happen.

ENDS

For media enquiries, please contact:

Education Above All

Kevin Donohue

kdonohue@eaa.org.qa

+974 661 65560

IIEP-UNESCO

Alexandra Waldhorn

a.waldhorn@iiep.unesco.org

Education Above All (EAA) Foundation

Education Above All (EAA) is a global education foundation established in 2012 by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. EAA is committed to protecting education, a fundamental right for all children and an essential condition to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). EAA believes education is the single most effective means of reducing poverty, generating economic growth and creating peaceful and just societies thereby bringing hope and real opportunity to the lives of children, youth and women, especially those in poverty, conflict situations, and natural disasters. For more information, visit educationaboveall.org.

EAA is comprised of four programmes: Educate A Child (EAC), Al Fakhoora, Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) and Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict (PEIC). In addition to providing access to education for children around the world, EAA advocates to safeguard inclusive and quality education for all.

IIEP-UNESCO

UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO) is the only specialized UN organization with the mandate to support educational policy, planning and management. Established in 1963 as an integral part of UNESCO, it develops the capacities of education actors to plan and manage their systems through its programmes of training, technical cooperation, policy research and knowledge sharing.

For more information, please visit IIEP's website. Follow IIEP on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.