Canada Statement – Arria Formula Meeting of the Security Council on Attacks on Schools

13 October 2017

Canada wishes to thank Italy for organizing this Arria Formula meeting on attacks on schools.

Education is a fundamental right that Canada is proud to defend at home and abroad. However, all too often we are seeing schoolyards turning into battlegrounds and pupils turning into targets.

Schools have been used by parties to armed conflict for military purposes such as bases, barracks, weapons caches, and detention centers. The recent report of the Secretary General on children and armed conflict registered 753 incidents of attacks on schools and hospitals in 2016. We have seen schoolchildren and their teachers killed, injured, and abducted. We have seen schools razed or burned to the ground. In many instances, such attacks violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law and have constituted war crimes. The recent attacks on schools in Chibok in Nigeria and Peshawar in Pakistan are tragic illustrations of a broader problem.

Horrific in and of themselves, such attacks often have further second and third order effects that stretch far into the future. Attacks on schools are often associated with other grave violations against children in armed conflict. They also undermine, prevent, or deter realization of the fundamental right to education. Weakened education systems, in turn, undermine economic development. All of these effects tend to disproportionately affect women and girls.

This is simply unacceptable. We must take action and we must do so now. We call on all parties to conflicts to protect schools and hospitals by upholding international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

The Security Council has often pronounced itself on the issue of attacks on schools. Yet, there is also more that all Member States of these United Nations can do. Earlier this year, Canada endorsed the Safe Schools declaration, a political declaration which seeks to keep schools and universities in conflict zones free from violence. Our endorsement of the Declaration is a reaffirmation of Canada’s commitment to protecting civilians affected by armed conflict, including children, as well as protecting education as a right. The Declaration will also inform the planning and conduct of the Canadian Armed Forces during armed conflict. 

Canada is proud to be among the 69 states which have endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, representing over one third of the membership of the UN. We warmly congratulate Burkina Faso as the most recent state to join. We strongly call upon all Member States, including the Members of this Security Council to join the growing number of countries acting to safeguard education. The well-being of future generations depends on it.

Thank you.