Strengthening Education in Emergencies: UNESCO Regional Consultation for (2025–2030)

https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/strengthening-education-emergencies-unesco-regional-consultation-2025-2030

UNESCO convened the Regional Online Consultation Meeting on the Strategic Framework for Education in Emergencies (EiE) in the Arab Region (2025–2030), bringing together a broad group of stakeholders, including ministries of education from Arab Member States, UN agencies, regional organizations, international NGOs, foundations, and education partners.

UNESCO

6 October 2025

Last update:7 October 2025

The Strategic Framework seeks to strengthen preparedness and ensure that education systems in the Arab region remain resilient, capable of providing continuous, safe, inclusive, and equitable quality education during emergencies and protracted crises. It provides Member States with a programmatic and policy reference to guide action in advancing Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) in crisis-affected contexts.

The development of the Strategic Framework is led by the UNESCO Regional Office in Beirut, in collaboration with UNESCO Regional Offices in Cairo and Doha, and UNESCO National Offices in Amman, Baghdad, Khartoum, and Ramallah. It is being developed through a consultative and participatory process, ensuring the inputs of key regional and national stakeholders and partners are reflected. 

nextchevron_leftpreviouschevron_right

Key Outcomes of the Consultation

The consultation highlighted the urgent context: the Arab region faces escalating conflicts, forced displacement, natural disasters, public health crises, and socio-economic challenges. Approximately 45 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance, including over 6.9 million internally displaced children and 6.4 million refugees. An estimated 30 million children are out of school, placing them at risk of learning loss, psychosocial distress, and protection violations, particularly for the most vulnerable groups.

The consultation reinforced a strong commitment by national and regional actors to the goals of the Strategic Framework, paving the way for its effective implementation at both country and regional levels. Building on this shared commitment, participants consolidated priorities and thematic focus areas to ensure the framework responds directly to the urgent needs, challenges, and opportunities facing education in emergencies across the Arab region. To translate these priorities into action, stakeholders also identified mechanisms for inter-agency coordination and partnerships, creating a foundation for collective advocacy, strategic collaboration, and alignment with national and regional education strategies.

Next Steps

The consultation represents a strategic step toward finalizing the UNESCO Strategic Framework on Education in Emergencies for the Arab Region (2025–2030). A high-level event for launching the strategic framework will be followed up to secure political, financial, and technical commitments to implement the strategy across the region, and to promote collaboration among humanitarian, development, and peace actors across the Arab region.