Commenting on the UK’s endorsement of the Safe SchoolsDeclaration Mike Penrose, Unicef UK Executive Director, said:

19 April – “We wholeheartedly welcome the UK government’s endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration today. UNICEF has been working to end the shameful use of schools as a weapon of war. The UK joining this movement is a major step forward and will galvanise other nations to follow suit.

“Over the past decade, the number of extremely violent conflicts has almost doubled and 27 million children are out of school in conflict zones. Children’s education is always one of the first things lost during conflict, and often the last to be restored.”

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Note to Editors:
· 170,000 members of the public, ambassadors, business leaders, and hundreds of schools across the UK called on the UK Government to sign the Safe Schools Declaration in the run up to the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016. Beyond the public campaign, Unicef UK continued their dialogue with the UK Government to highlight the critical role the UK can play in keeping schools safe.
· The Safe Schools Declaration is a non-legally binding political commitment by states to protect education from attack, by endorsing and committing to implement the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict.
· Over the past decade, the number of extremely violent conflicts has almost doubled, meaning one in four children in those areas are unable to go to school. Schools are a vital source of safety and hope for children, allowing them to learn, play and escape the horrors of war. Yet in recent years a devastating pattern of attacks on schools, universities, students and staff has emerged, with 1,000 attacks taking place in Afghanistan, Colombia, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Syria between 2009 and 2013.
· Under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), schools and universities are ordinarily considered civilian objects and therefore have a protected status that means deliberate attacks against schools constitute a war crime. However a lack of compliance and accountability for such violations of IHL means that perpetrators are often not held to account and attacks on schools are carried out with impunity.
· The Safe Schools Declaration seeks to protect schools, students and teachers – both through encouraging compliance with IHL and increasing accountability, but also through a voluntary shift in practice to prevent the military use of schools and mitigate risks where this does occur.
· The following Commonwealth Countries have signed the declaration: Botswana; Canada; Cyprus; Jamaica; Kenya; Malaysia; Malta; Mozambique; New Zealand; Nigeria; Sierra Leone; South Africa and Zambia.