Statement for the International Children's Day 2025
Security and Protection for Childhood: Egyptian Figures and a Message of Solidarity with the Children of Palestine
_ On the occasion of the International Children's Day, which is celebrated globally on November 20, 2025, and in light of what this day represents as a renewed call to promote and protect children's rights, Al-Shehab Human Rights Center issues this statement within the framework of the principles emphasized by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the announcements of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and UNICEF, aimed at promoting and ensuring the right to education for children, which seeks to establish clear and binding standards for the protection of this right, especially in contexts of crises and armed conflict.
_ The absence of quality education represents one of the most significant structural barriers to achieving sustainable peace, as it leads to the reproduction of cycles of violence and instability across generations, exacerbates inequality, spreads poverty, and deprives vulnerable groups of opportunities for social and economic participation, fueling feelings of marginalization and increasing the likelihood of societal violence. When the educational system fails to provide critical thinking skills, tolerance, and conflict resolution, children remain more susceptible to recruitment in conflicts and adopting hate speech and extremism. In the Egyptian context, the absence of quality education does not only affect academic performance but also extends to the psychological and social aspects of children, making them more vulnerable to bullying, school violence, and abuse within educational institutions. These conditions lead to serious setbacks manifested in cases of suicide or engagement in criminal behaviors, threatening community stability and weakening the chances of building sustainable peace. In this regard, the Child Helpline 16000, affiliated with the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, received 227,523 phone calls from January to June 2025, averaging 1,243 calls daily. The hotline recorded 11,644 complaints and requests for assistance, with a daily average of 65 reports, noting that 87% of the total calls were requests for support and assistance for children in danger, which is a clear indicator of the scale of violations faced by children in the school education environment in Egypt.
_ If the absence of education weakens the foundations of sustainable peace and undermines the community's ability to build a secure future, the situation becomes even graver in areas experiencing conflict or armed violence. In such environments, a range of dangerous manifestations reflecting the collapse of the right to education become evident, including: targeting schools or converting them into military sites, children dropping out of school due to fear and loss of security, family displacement, the homelessness of teachers and students, destruction of educational infrastructure, and internal displacement, which is one of the most severe consequences, forcing children to leave their schools and move to shelters; exacerbating dropout rates and deepening the educational gap. We find a tragic example in beloved Palestine, where education faces horrific violations amid armed conflict.
According to a survey map prepared by the "Al Jazeera Investigates" team in September 2025, the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip left no educational facility unscathed, as hundreds of schools and universities suffered total or partial destruction across various governorates of the sector.
The analysis confirms that the targeting of educational facilities, which began in the early months of the war, was systematic and ongoing, threatening the future of thousands of Palestinian students.
The analysis revealed shocking figures reflecting the scale of the educational disaster in the Gaza Strip, with 204 educational institutions completely destroyed, including 190 schools and 14 universities, in addition to 305 institutions partially damaged, including 293 schools and 12 universities. (Al Jazeera)
The war has destroyed the educational environment; according to the government media office, it has deprived more than 785,000 students from education at various stages, with more than 19,000 students martyred, and about 29,000 injured, in addition to over a thousand teachers and administrators martyred, and more than 230 academics killed, with over 1,420 others injured. (Anadolu)
According to reports from the United Nations and UNESCO between October 7, 2023, and 2025, nearly 403 out of 564 school buildings were targeted, with 85 schools completely destroyed, and 73 losing at least half of their structure; affecting 435,290 students and 16,275 teachers, making education nearly impossible for more than 658,000 children deprived of access to a formal education system. Additionally, some schools have been turned into shelters for the displaced. However, even these shelters have not been spared from bombardment, as about 62% of school buildings used as shelters were directly targeted.
_ The recommendations of Al-Shehab Human Rights Center come in light of the data presented, testimonies, and field monitoring regarding the current situation, in line with international trends and UN standards for protecting children and ensuring their right to education. These recommendations aim to enhance the national response, activate protection mechanisms, and adopt policies that align with best global practices in stable contexts and armed conflict areas. At the local level, it is recommended to protect children within educational institutions by activating rapid response units for incidents of violence and bullying, training teachers in non-violent handling methods, integrating psychological support within schools, alongside developing clear legislation criminalizing school assaults and ensuring the continuity of education in a safe environment that considers children's needs, and adopting transparent mechanisms for monitoring school dropout rates and documenting violations. As for conflict-affected areas, the center emphasizes the importance of protecting schools from military targeting and adhering to the Safe Schools Declaration, securing humanitarian corridors for students, providing alternative education models through temporary classrooms and digital platforms, and supporting psychological support programs for affected children, while enhancing the role of international organizations in documenting violations against educational institutions and criminalizing child recruitment, ensuring their integration into the educational process without discrimination, considering education a fundamental line of defense for protecting children's futures in conflict contexts.
Children's rights are human rights; they are universal and non-negotiable. The realization of children's rights is our compass towards establishing a better world today, tomorrow, and in the future.
_ Al-Shehab Human Rights Center affirms that sustainable peace cannot be achieved without inclusive, equitable, and safe education that reintegrates children, promotes human rights values, and provides future generations with the tools to build a community based on justice and the rule of law.
Al-Shehab Human Rights Center London _ November 2025
