10 May 2016: The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) called for strengthening the safeguards for children seeking asylum, as EU Member States and the European Parliament discuss possible changes to asylum processes in Europe. The Fund also released a report on school-age children in emergencies. Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict has called on the African Union (AU) and its Member States to protect schools from attacks and to criminalize such acts.

The UNICEF statement on asylum processes in Europe, issued on 4 May, calls for: transferring child arrivals to the State that will consider their application for asylum within three months; providing information on the right to claim international protection within 72 hours of arrival to every child, whether or not they are accompanied by a family member; and considering the “best interests” of children who are unaccompanied or separated from their families and taking into account children’s views and opinions when making decisions about their future. The Fund calls for more resources and professional help to be allocated for unaccompanied or separated children. Rather than detaining children pending their transfer to another state, UNICEF proposes alternatives such as appointing a guardian or providing appropriate community-based accommodation.

Also on 4 May, UNICEF released a report, titled ‘Education Cannot Wait: Proposing a Fund for Education in Emergencies,’ which reports that almost one-quarter of the world’s school-age children live in countries affected by crises and need educational support. The report was commissioned by UNICEF and partners, and written by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). A new fund called Education Cannot Wait will be launched at the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), convening in Istanbul, Turkey, from 23-24 May 2016. The fund seeks to raise almost US$4 billion to provide education in emergencies to 13.6 million children within five years, and to reach 75 million children by 2030. Josephine Bourne, UNICEF, noted that going to school can act as a deterrent to trafficking and recruitment of children into armed groups, and is a vital investment in the future of children and their communities.

At the AU Peace and Security Council’s open session on children and armed conflict on 10 May, Leela Zerrougui, UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, called for protecting schools, and noted that schools have been damaged or destroyed in military operations in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. She also called on the international community to endorse the 2015 Safe Schools Declaration, which has been endorsed by 15 African countries, and to implement the associated Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict. Zerrougui highlighted that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes a commitment to protect schools.

On 5 May, UN humanitarian coordinators for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) issued a joint call to the international community to find solutions to end the conflict and humanitarian crises in the region, including in Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Syria and Yemen. They stressed the large scale of current needs, with 55 million people in the region currently needing humanitarian assistance for basic survival in the form of food, essential health care, safe drinking water and shelter. [UNICEF Press Release] [Publication: Education Cannot Wait: Proposing a Fund for Education in Emergencies] [UN Press Release on Education Report, Fund] [UN Press Release on Zerrougui Statement] [UN Press Release on Humanitarian Coordinators’ Statement]