Education on the Frontline: Forging Resilience and Reclaiming the Future in Africa and the Middle East

Executive Summary

The fundamental right to education is under a coordinated and devastating assault in conflict zones across Africa and the Middle East. This study finds that the deliberate weaponization of education—through direct annihilation of infrastructure, targeted attacks on schools, and the systematic disruption of learning—has precipitated a generational catastrophe. In Gaza, the ongoing war has decimated the educational sector, with over 70% of schools directly hit. In Sudan, conflict has pushed 19 million children from their classrooms. Across the Sahel, Central Africa, and other fragile states, millions more are denied their future, creating fertile ground for instability, extremism, and intergenerational poverty.

However, a narrative focused solely on destruction is incomplete and disempowering. This study by African Narratives documents a powerful counter-narrative of profound resilience. From teachers holding classes in the tent camps of Gaza to community-led schools in Burkina Faso and continent-wide digital learning platforms, educators, parents, and students are innovating in the face of extreme adversity. This resilience is not merely a coping mechanism; it is the foundation upon which a more robust and conflict-sensitive future can be built.

The central argument of this study is that education must be repositioned from a humanitarian afterthought to a core pillar of international peace and security architecture. It is a prerequisite for achieving stability and "Silencing the Guns." The study analyzes the multifaceted nature of the crisis, presents case studies of both devastation and innovation from Gaza to the DRC, and examines the critical nexus between education, security, and development.

We conclude with a new compact for action, urging governments, the African Union, the Arab League, and international partners to move beyond rhetoric. This requires: (1) Robustly protecting schools and ensuring accountability for attacks under international law; (2) Systematically scaling and funding innovative, resilient education models; (3) Fully integrating education into all peace and security frameworks; and (4) Closing the chronic funding gap with strategic, long-term investments. Investing in education on the frontline is the most strategic investment the world can make in a future of sustainable peace and prosperity.

1. Introduction

For millions of children across Africa and the Middle East, the sound of a school bell has been replaced by the sound of explosions. The classroom, once a sanctuary of hope, has become a primary target in modern warfare. This is the stark reality from Gaza City to Gao, from Khartoum to Kivu. The statistics are a grim testament to a deepening, transnational crisis. In Gaza, the war that began in October 2023 has led to the functional collapse of the entire education system. In West and Central Africa, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reported over 13,000 schools closed by the end of 2023 due to conflict (NRC, 2024). This is not collateral damage; it is a calculated strategy employed by armed actors to dismantle state authority, erase cultural identity, spread fear, and deny future generations the tools for critical thought and economic independence.

This study, by African Narratives, moves beyond the chronicle of loss to examine the strategic implications of this global crisis. While fully acknowledging the devastating human cost, we aim to elevate the discourse by focusing on emergent patterns of community-led resilience and the urgent need to reframe education as a cornerstone of security and development. The core thesis is that protecting, adapting, and investing in education during conflict is not a peripheral humanitarian concern, but a foundational strategy for conflict resolution, counter-extremism, and long-term nation-building.

Drawing on data from Gaza, Sudan, the Sahel, and beyond, this report analyzes the anatomy of the crisis, highlights the innovative solutions emerging from affected communities themselves, and provides a clear, actionable roadmap for policymakers. It is a call to action to secure the classroom as the first line of defense for a peaceful future.

2. The Eroding Foundation: A Global Crisis of Education Under Siege

The crisis is systemic, with devastating, interconnected consequences across regions.

2.1 The Weaponization of Education

Education is on the frontline because it represents everything its attackers oppose: progress, tolerance, female empowerment, and functioning civil authority. The tactics are deliberate and brutal:

• Systematic Destruction of Infrastructure: In Gaza, the crisis has reached a point of near-total annihilation. UNRWA confirms that over 70% of Gaza's school buildings have sustained direct hits, with an estimated 88% requiring complete reconstruction or major rehabilitation. This has effectively erased the physical presence of education for over 278,000 students (UNRWA, 2025).

• Direct Attacks and Abductions: Across Africa, UNICEF has consistently raised the alarm over targeted violence against students and teachers (UNICEF, 2023). The mass abduction of schoolchildren in Nigeria serves as a powerful tool of terror, while the assassination of educators in the Sahel aims to intimidate and dismantle the system.

• Military Use of Schools: The conversion of schools into barracks, command centers, or shelters for the displaced is a common thread from Gaza, where hundreds of schools now house displaced families, to the DRC. This practice strips schools of their protected civilian status under international law, turning them into legitimate military targets (GCPEA, 2022; UNRWA, 2025).

• Ideological Warfare: In the Sahel, extremist groups actively campaign against "Western" education, closing state schools and attempting to replace them with indoctrination centers (DW, 2024). This represents a direct battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation.

2.2 The Ripple Effect: Consequences Beyond the Classroom

The closure or destruction of a school triggers a cascade of negative outcomes:

• A Lost Generation: With 19 million children out of school in Sudan and hundreds of thousands in Gaza facing a "hazy future devoid of the slightest glimmer of hope," entire cohorts are being deprived of the basic literacy and skills needed for personal and national development (Global Education Cluster, 2023; Local Gaza Sources, 2024).

• Increased Vulnerability: Out-of-school children are significantly more vulnerable to child labor, early marriage, exploitation, and recruitment by armed groups. In Gaza, children are forced to spend their time searching for food, water, and firewood instead of learning.

• Psychosocial Devastation: The violence, displacement, and uncertainty of conflict inflict deep and lasting psychological wounds. Education provides routine, hope, and a sense of normalcy that are critical for healing. Its absence exacerbates trauma and hinders a child's cognitive and emotional development.

3. Case Studies in Crisis and Resilience

While the challenges are immense, a closer look at specific conflict zones reveals powerful stories of adaptation and human agency.

3.1 Gaza: Annihilation of a System, Resilience Amidst the Rubble

The war on Gaza has pushed a sector already under strain to total collapse. Even before the latest conflict, the education system was profoundly exhausted: 63% of schools operated on double shifts, and 7% on triple shifts, with 2006 exam results showing high failure rates in core subjects (UNRWA, pre-2023 reports). The current war has layered a catastrophe upon a chronic crisis. Yet, amidst the destruction, attempts to salvage learning persist:

• Grassroots Initiatives: Teachers have launched individual efforts to maintain a flicker of education. They create online groups for simplified lessons, establish temporary classes in tents using wooden planks as blackboards, and provide psychosocial support to traumatized children.

• A Teacher's Resolve: The work of educators like Nabil Abu Anza, who started teaching primary-grade children despite the total lack of resources, embodies this spirit. He states, “Education is the gateway to steadfastness, and it is what we plant today for hope to survive.”

• Institutional Memory: UNRWA's pre-war programs, such as its "Schools of Excellence" initiative, human rights curriculum, and vocational training, provide a blueprint for what must be rebuilt, underscoring that a return to the pre-war status quo is insufficient.

3.2 Sudan: A System on the Brink, A People in Action

The conflict that erupted in April 2023 has decimated Sudan's education system. The response has been a remarkable demonstration of multi-modal learning:

• Low-Tech Solutions: Radio-based education programs are broadcasting core subjects, reaching millions of displaced children without internet or electricity.

• Digital Innovation: The Learning Passport platform offers digital courses accessible on mobile devices.

• Community Action: Sudanese teachers, many displaced and unpaid, have established thousands of volunteer-led learning spaces, offering basic education and vital psychosocial support (Global Education Cluster, 2023).

3.3 The Sahelian Epicenter: Resisting Ideology Through Community Action

In Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, communities are not passive victims. They are actively negotiating access for teachers, establishing community-based schools, and creating local protection committees. These grassroots efforts demonstrate a profound local demand for education and a refusal to cede the future to extremists (NRC, 2024).

4. The Strategic Pivot: Education as a Pillar of Peace and Security

The narrative of resilience must be met with a strategic policy pivot. The UN OSAA rightly frames education as a "key nexus for transformative change" in the context of the "Silencing the Guns" agenda—a principle that applies equally to the conflicts in the Middle East (UN OSAA, 2024).

This requires operationalizing the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus. It demands an integrated strategy where humanitarian aid provides immediate learning opportunities, development programming rebuilds systems to be more resilient and conflict-sensitive, and peace and security actors actively protect schools and integrate education into peace processes.

This vision is crippled by a single, stark reality: chronic underfunding. Education consistently receives less than 3% of global humanitarian aid (ECW, 2023). For agencies like UNRWA, which face existential funding crises, this shortfall directly translates into an inability to provide a future for millions. This is not just a funding gap; it is a policy failure that equates to disinvesting in peace.

5. A New Compact for Action: Recommendations for 2025 and Beyond

To transform the paradigm from crisis response to strategic investment, African Narratives proposes a new compact for action.

1. PROTECT: From Declaration to Enforcement

   • Action: All states must endorse and fully implement the Safe Schools Declaration. This requires translating its principles into national law and military doctrine and, critically, supporting international mechanisms like the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute attacks on education as war crimes.

   • Rationale: Impunity is the greatest driver of continued attacks. Accountability, enforced at the international level, is the strongest deterrent.

2. INNOVATE: Scale and Certify Resilient Learning

   • Action: National authorities and international partners must establish "Resilient Education Funds" to scale up and formalize alternative learning models. This includes investing in low-tech solutions (radio, print) and creating pathways to certify learning that occurs in non-formal settings.

   • Rationale: The innovations born of crisis in Gaza and the Sahel must be integrated into national systems, not discarded once a conflict subsides. This ensures continuity of learning and builds system-wide resilience.

3. INTEGRATE: Embed Education in the Peace and Security Architecture

   • Action: The UN Security Council, AU Peace and Security Council, and the Arab League must mandate the inclusion of "Education Protection Advisors" in all peace and observer missions. Education and vocational training must become a standard, funded component of all post-conflict reconstruction and DDR programs.

   • Rationale: This moves education from the margins to the center of peace processes, recognizing that sustainable peace cannot be built on a foundation of an uneducated, traumatized youth population.

4. FUND: Close the Gap with Strategic, Blended Finance

   • Action: States and international bodies must champion a target of allocating at least 10% of all humanitarian response funding to education. This includes securing long-term, predictable funding for cornerstone agencies like UNRWA and pioneering blended finance models that draw from development banks and the private sector.

   • Rationale: Incremental increases are insufficient. A quantum leap in funding is required. Treating education as critical infrastructure—as vital as power grids—unlocks new and more sustainable financing streams.

6. Conclusion

The story of education in the conflict zones of Africa and the Middle East is a story of a battle for the future. It is a story of immense loss, but also of extraordinary resilience and untapped potential. For too long, the international community has treated education as a "soft" issue, a casualty to be lamented rather than a strategic asset to be deployed. This must change.

The path to stability runs directly through the classroom. By protecting schools, investing in innovation, and integrating education into the very heart of our peace and security strategies, the world can help turn a demographic threat into a dividend of peace. The children in the tents of Rafah and the makeshift camps of Sudan are already leading the way. It is time for the world's leaders to follow.

Bibliography

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