A young student waits for the school bus on the street in Hirske, Luhanska oblast.

Significant human rights concerns are raised by the ongoing armed conflict in eastern Ukraine. In the above sections we have documented some of the key issues: attacks on education, including attacks on schools and teachers, and the military use of schools, as well as the increasing militarisation and politicisation of education.

However, there is hope that the conflict may be de-escalating. Throughout 2019, Ukraine and Russia entered into several peace talks, which led to prisoner swaps and Ukraine retreating from Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, with plans to withdraw from more areas. Ukraine and Russia have also agreed a roadmap for bringing the six-year conflict to an end, called the ‘Steinmeier formula’, whereby elections would be held in Donbas and in return Ukraine would grant the region a special self-governing status. However the peace process turns out, progress will be slow and uncertain, and the fighting is likely to continue, at least in the short to medium term.

During this time, education must continue, and students and their teachers must not be forgotten. The conflict has already had a massive negative impact on education, which must be reversed as soon as possible. One of the key ways to mitigate the negative impacts of conflict is to have a strong education system that provides safe spaces for children to learn and receive support. And now with the presence of COVID-19 in Donbas, which has resulted in further school closures and the move to remote learning, education is even more key to restoring a sense of security and normality.

Fortunately, there lies a clear path to ensure that this happens.

On 20 November 2019, Ukraine became the 100th country to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration (SSD). The SSD is an international political document that commits countries to make schools safe during armed conflict so that education can continue, by taking a number of concrete steps, including:

- monitoring attacks on education by collecting reliable and relevant data

- investigating and prosecuting alleged violations of human rights

- strengthening the protective role of education

- ensuring the continuation of education during armed conflict and supporting the re- establishment of educational facilities

- operationalising the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict, a tool that reflects good practice and gives guidance on how to reduce the impact of armed conflict on education.

The challenge now is to ensure that the SSD is properly implemented, in line with, and to support, the maximum protection of all relevant domestic laws and international human rights and humanitarian law (which have the force of national law according to the Ukrainian constitution), including: the UN Convention on the Rights of Children (1989); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966); and the European Convention on Human Rights (1950). This is a huge challenge for a country in conflict but it is the only way to ensure that the conflict does not violate human rights.

We know there will be major obstacles, from a policy standpoint, that need to be urgently addressed for this to happen. Chief among these is the fact that no education data is collected in the NGCA, so there is effectively a blind spot in Ukraine’s ability to identify key education and human rights issues. For example, the last data collected on out-of-school children was in 2014, the year the conflict began. And in Ukraine’s last report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the government reported no education statistics for Luhanska and Donetska oblasts in the NGCA.

Human Rights Watch, in its report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, pointed out that the Ukrainian government also does not collect relevant data on attacks on education.

Another challenge will be ensuring that relevant resources are allocated to repairing schools in a timely manner, to ensure the continuation of education and ensuring the psychosocial wellbeing of children and educational staff.

If parties to the conflict comply with their obligations, the impact on children and their education will be reduced as much as possible. And when the conflict finally comes to an end, the transition to peace will require a strong education system where children are protected, safe and learning.

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Written by Erica Murphy

Photographs by Diego Ibarra Sánchez

Videography by Ricardo Marquina Montañana

Translations by Samuel Dyson

Video editing by Natalia Fricker

Fixing by Dmitry Pashchenko

Specials thanks to Save the Children Ukraine, the Ukraine Education Cluster, Unesco, and Human Rights Watch.

Further information:

- GCPEA’s Ukraine profile

- Ukraine Education Cluster

- OSCE Impact of the conflict on educational facilities and children's access to education in eastern Ukraine

- RTE’s page on education in emergencies

- RTE’s legal factsheet on the right to education in Ukraine

- Diego Ibarra Sanchez Hijacked education

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March 6th, 2020

March 6^th, 2020