Education doesn’t just teach children to read — it teaches them to understand one another. Schools build the empathy, critical thinking, and shared identity that communities need to resist violence and sustain peace. Where quality education is absent, conflict finds its easiest footholds.

Did You Know?

• Conflict is one of the leading causes of children being out of school worldwide. An estimated 222 million school-aged children and youth live in crisis-affected countries, with nearly half — around 78 million — out of school entirely due to war, displacement, or fragility. (UNICEF / Education Cannot Wait, 2022)
• Education reduces the risk of conflict. Research shows that countries where large numbers of young people are excluded from education and employment are significantly more vulnerable to political instability and violence — a pattern sometimes called the “youth bulge” risk. (World Bank / United Nations)
• Attacks on schools and universities during armed conflict are alarmingly common. The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack documented over 5,000 attacks on educational facilities across conflict-affected countries between 2020 and 2022 alone — robbing millions of children of safety and continuity. (GCPEA, Education Under Attack Report, 2022)
  Peace education works. Programs that integrate conflict resolution, human rights, and social cohesion into school curricula have demonstrated measurable reductions in inter-group hostility and youth violence in post-conflict settings across Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia — though large-scale global impact data remains an acknowledged gap in the research. (UNESCO / UNICEF)