Education Above All chairperson HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser yesterday participated in a special session on education in emergencies, which was held as part of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.
Gordon Brown, the UN special envoy for global education, also took part in the session alongside Julia Gillard, chairperson of the Global Partnership for Education, and Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the chief executive of Save the Children International.
Speaking at the summit, HH Sheikha Moza urged the international community to take an approach based on provision, protection and prevention so that education was placed at the heart of efforts to address humanitarian crises around the
world.
“Money is not enough to fulfil our obligations to provide every child with their right to education that they deserve,” said Sheikha Moza.
“Without protection and prevention, what we spend years building can be destroyed in minutes.
“The destruction of schools are not just ‘accidents’ of war. Education is under attack. Our schools are the battlefield. It is time to fight back.
“What is missing are the mechanisms and the political will to enforce (existing international laws). We must hold the perpetrators of these crimes responsible and accountable.
“Only when the perpetrators are shamed and punished, will we deter others from attacking education.
“Only then, can we break this vicious cycle of building and destroying, building and destroying,” she added.
Sheikha Moza  highlighted the ongoing work of Education Above All, noting its investment in “providing quality primary education to almost 7mn out-of-school children”.
She added that Education Above All remained on track to enrol 10mn out-of-school children in education programmes by the end of the year.