The Safe Schools Declaration is an inter-governmental political commitment that provides countries the opportunity to express support for protecting students, teachers, schools, and universities from attack during times of armed conflict; the importance of the continuation of education during armed conflict; and the implementation of concrete measures to deter the military use of schools.

By joining the Safe Schools Declaration, states commit to undertake several common-sense steps to make it less likely that students, teachers, schools, and universities will be attacked, and to mitigate the negative consequences when such attacks occur.

These measures include:

  • collecting reliable data on attacks and military use of schools and universities
  • providing assistance to victims of attacks
  • investigating allegations of violations of national and international law and prosecuting perpetrators where appropriate
  • developing and promoting 'conflict sensitive' approaches to education
  • seeking to continue education during armed conflict
  • supporting the UN's work on the children and armed conflict agenda
  • using the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict, and bringing them into domestic policy and operational frameworks as far as possible and appropriate

The Declaration is also a framework for collaboration and exchange, and endorsing states agree to meet on a regular basis to review implementation of the Declaration and use of the Guidelines.

The Guidelines for protecting schools and universities from military use during armed conflict can be found, here and the accompanying commentary, here,

Year of publication: 
2015