Conflict and Education: Scenarios for Future Interaction in Research and Policy
The relationship between conflict and violence, on the one hand, and education and training, on the other, is quickly becoming one of the central concerns for a variety of stakeholders working on sustainable development and peace-building around the world. Critically examining this relationship is important, not just in the light of the post-2015 development agenda, but also in view of the broader societal changes taking place globally.
Many developing and emerging economies are not only characterized by rising social inequalities, rampant urbanization, youth bulges, and an information and telecommunication technologies (ITCs) revolution, but often also by extremely high rates of violence. This level of violence is higher in countries affected by intra-sate armed conflict or socio-political emergency. The field of education as a right and education as a tool is reflected at the national level in the dialectic between education as a medium for societal development or for economic growth. The jury is still out on how these different conceptualizations relate to “traditional” armed conflict and socio-political emergency and also on how they interact with news forms of conflict and violence, especially urban violence.
This report is based on presentations and discussions that took place during the workshop “Conflict and Education: Scenarios for Future Interaction in Research and Policy' held on 10-11 June 2014 in Geneva. Organised by NORRAG, the workshop brought together a variety of stakeholders from different sectors such as international humanitarian organisations, foundations, local and international NGOs, think tanks, research organizations and academia. Insight from their presentations, comments, and on the ground experiences are incorporated to illustrate and enrich the report’s findings.