UNESCO’s work with displaced children in Gaza offers a different perspective on education during conflict. Rather than beginning with textbooks or academic achievement, the programme starts with something more fundamental: helping children regain a sense of safety. Through art therapy, cultural activities, theatre, and psychosocial support, UNESCO has reached more than 1,200 displaced children and adolescents while also supporting hundreds of caregivers to strengthen children

WHO reports that nearly everyone affected by war or disaster experiences psychological distress, while 22% of people exposed to conflict within the past decade develop conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia. About 13% experience mild forms of depression, anxiety, or PTSD, and another 9% face moderate or severe mental disorders. These numbers reveal why war’s most lasting damage is often invisible. Buildings can be rebuilt and ph

UNICEF's framework for protecting children in humanitarian emergencies argues that conflict does far more than place children in physical danger, it disrupts every system they rely on to grow, learn, and recover. Armed violence, displacement, family separation, attacks on schools, recruitment by armed groups, and gender-based violence often occur simultaneously, leaving children without the protection, education, and mental health support they need. UNICEF emphasizes that the

This week’s Megaphone Field Notes reveal a disturbing shift in modern conflict: war is no longer only destroying lives, it is systematically dismantling the spaces where the next generation builds its future. Across reports from GCPEA, UNICEF, and Education Cannot Wait, one message stands out: attacks on education are becoming a deliberate strategy rather than an unintended consequence of war. The Education Under Attack 2026 report documented more than 8,500 attacks on

Education Cannot Wait’s Education Under Fire shows that attacks on schools are not isolated tragedies, but part of a growing global pattern. Between 2022 and 2023, the UN recorded around 6,000 attacks on students, teachers, and educational institutions, while the military use of schools rose by 20%. More than 10,000 students and educators were killed, abducted, arrested, or otherwise harmed. What makes this issue especially urgent is that education is being attacked at