International Save the Children Alliance
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates sign up to Joint Letter
An open letter to world leaders and parties to armed conflicts
Peace begins in the minds of children.
But in so many ongoing conflicts worldwide, peace is distant from reality for many millions of children. The chance lottery of where a child is born may mean they grow up happy and healthy, or they grow up amongst conflict knowing only war and its terrible aftermath.
War and conflict are perpetrated by adults. But every adult was once a child and grew up with experiences and guidance that shaped their lives. At the heart of this lies education. The lessons children learn in school are a rehearsal for later life, the values they form frame their views of others.
But if more than 70 million children do not even have the chance to go to school, and more than half of these children live in countries affected by armed conflict - what are these children learning? Children and their families repeatedly ask for education. Committed teachers and a relevant curriculum give children an alternative to confusion and conflict. Quality education gives access to information and develops skills and critical thinking that in turn make opportunities for change in peaceful ways.
Today, the anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Universal Children's Day, we call for the urgent implementation of quality education for all children, good education that gives children the best chance of a peaceful, prosperous future.
We, the undersigned, call on governments and other parties to armed conflicts to respect and promote schools as places of peace and safety.
• Ensure all children have access to quality education despite ethnicity, religion or language.
• Ensure all children can learn free from fear of recruitment into armed forces, violence or intimidation.
• Ensure all children receive an inclusive and relevant education that promotes an openness of thought and is accountable to children's families and communities.
• Ensure that quality education is made an integral part of every peace process.
Children cannot wait for education while we debate the difficulties and the details.
Peace begins in the minds of children, and it must begin today.
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(Signed) American Friends Service Committee
(Signed) The 14th Dalai Lama
(Signed) Shirin Ebadi
(Signed) John Hume
(Signed) International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
(Signed on her behalf by Dr. Sein Win, her first cousin and Prime Minister of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma) Aung San Suu Kyi
(Signed) Mairead Corrigan Maguire
(Signed) José Ramos-Horta
(Signed) Rigoberta Menchú Tum
(Signed) United Nations Children's Fund
(Signed) Elie Wiesel
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(Signed) Amnesty International
(Signed) Kim Dae-jung
(Signed) Mohamed ElBaradei
(Signed) Friends Service Council
(Signed) International Campaign to Ban Landmines
(Signed) International Labour Organisation
(Signed) Frederik Willem de Klerk
(Signed) Wangari Maathai
(Signed) Permanent International Peace Bureau
(Signed) Oscar Arias Sánchez
(Signed) Desmond Mpilo Tutu
(Signed) Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(Signed) Betty Williams
(Supporting statement provided by)
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