In conflict after conflict we forget how deeply they are affected: education is disrupted, lives shattered. Now, we must prepare
With 1.5m refugee children having fled Ukraine, we think about the urgent need for humanitarian relief: food, water, shelter and clothing. But we must ensure children’s education is central to the immediate response to their suffering, because war doesn’t just wreck lives, it wrecks education too.
Pick a humanitarian crisis: Syria, Greece, Afghanistan, Uganda. In every instance, education is the first service children lose. The sad truth is that children who are displaced by conflict remain in that situation for years.
Justin van Fleet is president of Theirworld, a global children’s charity
