International Save the Children Alliance
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Turn Spotlight on Need for Education of Children in Conflict
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.
In a rare joint statement, more than thirty winners of the Nobel Peace Prize today called for urgent action to implement quality education and build peace in conflict-affected countries.
The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, including President Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi*, urged world leaders to pay more attention to the educational needs of more the 37 million children who live in fragile states and are unable to go to school.
The letter comes at a time when millions of children continue to be denied an education because of war. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, even before the recent fighting every second child did not have access to education. Without adequate protection from the escalating conflict in recent weeks, even more children have been forced to flee their schools. Some schools have even been targeted to recruit schoolchildren as child soldiers.
The Nobel Laureates have come together to call for change, as part of the Save the Children campaign Rewrite the Future which fights for education for all children affected by conflict. In March 2008 Save the Children launched a global debate on the links between education and peace.
* Aung San Suu Kyi remains under strict house arrest; the Letter has been signed on her behalf by Dr. Sein Win, her first cousin and Prime Minister of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
Find out what Nobel Peace Prize Winners have to say
Read the opinion article by Mairead Maguire
Press Release (November 20, 2008)
The Global Debate
On 12 March 2008 Save the Children launched a global debate on the relationship between education and peace - what kind of education can promote peace, and how do we make sure that children receive the quality education that will help them build peace?
Events and discussions have taken place across the globe, engaging children, teachers, parents, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, educationalists and governments to contribute to a greater understanding of the links between education and peace.
See the outcomes of the global debate here
Why education for peace?
Save the Children believes that quality education can build peace and that we, as a global community, have a responsibility for ensuring quality education that builds peace.
We have listened to children, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and beyond, who tell us that education can build peace.