Adopted by the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), at its 1296th Open Session held on Wednesday, 13 August 2025 on Education in Conflict Situations.
The Peace and Security Council,
Recalling the AU Theme for 2024, namely: “Educate an African fit for the 21st Century: Building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality and relevant learning in Africa”; and all decisions and pronouncements of AU Policy Organs, particularly, Decision [Assembly/AU/Dec.753(XXXIII)] adopted by the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, held in February 2020; Decision [Assembly/AU/Dec.718 (XXXII)] adopted by the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Union held from 10 to 11 February 2019;
Also recalling the Executive Council Decision [EX.CL/Dec.712 (XXI)] adopted during the 21st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council held in Addis Ababa from 9 to 13 July 2012; the Executive Council Decision [EX.CL/Dec.1280 (XLVI)] which endorsed the education Ministers’ decision to declare the period 2025-2034 as the “Decade of Accelerated Action for Education Transformation and Skills Development in Africa”;
Further recalling its previous decisions and pronouncements on Education in Conflict Situations, particularly, Communiques [PSC/PR/COMM.1229 (2024) adopted at its 1229th meeting held on 21 August 2024; and the Conclusions of the PSC Ministerial and High-Level Open Session on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights and Welfare of Children in Situations of Conflict in Africa, held from 4 to 5 December 2023 in Banjul, The Gambia;
Recognizing that the advancement of education for children cannot be achieved without the full inclusion, protection, and empowerment of women and girls, and that persistent violence against women and girls undermines educational outcomes and societal progress;
Reaffirming the AU’s commitment to the child’s rights in line with the AU Constitutive Act and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child;
Taking note of the opening remarks by H.E. Dr. Ambassador Mohamed KHALED, Permanent Representative of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria to the African Union (AU) and Chairperson of the PSC of the AU for August 2025; and the introductory Statement by H.E. Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security;
Also taking note of the presentation by H.E. Ambassador Amma Twum-Amoah, Acting Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, and the statements by H.E. Ambassador Rebecca Amuge Otengo, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Uganda to the AU and Co-Chair of the African Platform on Children Affected by Armed Conflict, Honourable Wilson Almeida Adao, Chairperson of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and Representatives of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Acting under Article 7 of its Protocol, the Peace and Security Council:
1. Expresses deep concern over the adverse effects of armed conflict on education, particularly on children’s personal, social and cognitive development as evidenced by continued violations and abuses of children’s rights, as well as violence perpetrated against children, including gender-based violence, forced early marriages of girls, child labour, recruitment as child soldiers, and radicalization, which further erode the general welfare of children and deprive them of their human dignity and agency towards the development of the Continent;
2. Emphasizes the importance of always guaranteeing the right to an inclusive education for all, as a fundamental right, including in conflict situations; and in this regard reiterates its strong condemnation of any activity, deliberately targeting of schools and other education facilities by armed groups, including occupation and use for military purposes, which affect the full realization of children’s rights in conflict situations; and warns the perpetrators of these heinous crimes that they will be held accountable for their actions;
3. Urges all actors in conflict situations on the continent to fully respect international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) and to ensure the upholding of children’s rights;
4. Emphasizes the need for concerned Member States to re-double their effort on enforcing the international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL), which protect schools, teachers and learners from attacks; and urges Member States to criminalize the use of education infrastructures, including schools for military purpose during armed conflict and ensure accountability for violations;
5. Reaffirms the commitment of Member States to implement the objectives of the ‘Decade of Education’, the new Continental Education Strategy in Africa (CESA 25-34), aimed at protecting and giving priority to education in all conflict and post-conflict contexts;
6. Emphasizes the importance of promoting education, contingency planning, temporary learning centers and integration of education in national emergency response frameworks, including distance learning facilities through establishing educational digital platforms;
7. Calls on the integration of peace and psychosocial education and support as well as ending harmful practices in AU Peace Support Operations (PSOs) and Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) frameworks, with dedicated accountability measures;
8. Reiterates the call for Member States to accelerate domestication and implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration;
9. Requests the AU Commission to develop a policy on the protection and provision of education services during conflicts on the Continent;
10. Urges all stakeholders, including civil society, educators, and communities, to actively participate in creating safe, inclusive, and equitable educational systems that address the needs and rights of women and children in conflict situations;
11. Requests the AUC to issue a periodic Scorecards on the Elimination of Harmful Practices, tracking trends in child marriage and other violations in conflict-affected areas to enable data-driven interventions;
12. Directs the AU Commission to mobilize resources for its mechanisms, including the African Humanitarian Agency, Continental Civil Capacity Mechanism for Disaster Preparedness and Response, the African Risk Capacity and AU Liaison Offices in conflict zones to support education delivery;
13. Encourages AU Member States to scale up domestic budget allocations for emergency education preparedness and response; underscores the need to promote innovative financing mechanisms, including pooled emergency education funds and AU Peace Fund support for education; and calls for donor alignment with Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA) 2026-2035 humanitarian education targets;
14. Urges Member States to promote peace education, conflict resolution and civic engagement content in national curricula; and support teacher’s training programs focused on peacebuilding, reconciliation and inclusive pedagogy in fragile contexts, such as refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps; and encourages community-based education initiatives that foster coexistence and prevent radicalization;
15. Calls for increased and sustainable funding for education in Africa and the strengthening of educational infrastructure and services and, in this context, and encourages AUC to allocate more resources to education, particularly in conflict-affected areas;
16. Emphasizes the need to strengthen the protection of children in conflict situations and promote children’s rights in AU peace, security and development programmes; in this regard, directs the AU Commission to follow up on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Communique PSC/PR/COMM.1229 (2024) including making recommendations to address the challenge of education in the context of refugee camps;
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17. Encourages Member States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify and transpose into their domestic law the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and other international instruments such as the Declaration on safe schools and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict;
18. Request the AU Commission to develop a comprehensive and dynamic matrix listing all AU legal frameworks, strategies and initiatives aimed at promoting inclusive education for all, particularly ensuring continuity of education in times of conflict in Africa, and to develop an action plan on activities to be undertaken in this area from 2025 onwards;
19. Also Requests the AU Commission to facilitate technical support and capacity-building for concerned Member States in implementing the Safe Schools Declaration, AU Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict;
20. Commends the significant contribution of the Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Department (ESTI), and the outgoing Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Department, H.E. Prof. Mohammed Belhocine, particularly on the progress made under the African Union’s theme for 2024 on education, contributing to the continental effort to promote education for all in Africa, including in challenging contexts such as crisis and conflict zones; and
21. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.