Assessment/Evaluation
	UNESCO led the inter-agency assessment of emergency education in 1999, leading to the thematic study on Education in Situations of Emergency and Crisis: Challenges for the New Century presented at the Dakar World Education Forum. A top priority is to conduct state of the art studies on education for reconstruction in major recent, complex, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters, and in unstable country situations.

 

There has been inadequate evaluation of education response in complex emergencies. As regards education reconstruction, the Inter-Agency evaluation of responses to major crisis situations suggested weaknesses in strategy and response. Follow-up and real-time studies are needed of major crises, since data are otherwise lost and research findings are too little and too late. UNESCO encourage partners to sponsor a coordinated set of real-time longitudinal evaluations of the education situations, in particular in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa, West Africa, Central Asia (including Afghanistan), the Caucasus and Colombia. The same approach could usefully be applied to natural disaster response and prevention activities in the education sector. These long-term studies make possible the development of a substantially more efficient approach to future crisis and reconstruction programmes. At present there is no solid foundation for policy in such situations. The new state of the art studies provide progressively improved basic tools for all subsequent emergency response. Academic or research institutions are associated in priority to these activities. The studies are funded by various sources and coordinated by UNESCO which provide technical support and convene workshops to review issues of methodology and exchange of findings.

Children, Education and War : Reaching the Education for All (EFA) Objectives in Countries Affected by War "How can countries affected by conflict arrive at EFA objectives? an emergency education expert answered : "The short answer is: "They can't. " - More

Education in situations of emergency and crisis : challenges for the new century Expertise of a task force made up of seven UN organisations and 11 non governmental organisations (NGOs). It argues that neglect of education in conflict-wracked states can lead to a cycle of violence and poverty in which young people grow up only learning the skills of conflict and the attitudes of revenge. - More