Communiqué of the 1296th Meeting of the Peace and Security Council held on 13 August 2025 in an Open Session on Education in Conflict Situation in Africa.

Abstract

The AU Peace and Security Council’s 1296th open session held on 13 Aug 2025, adopted a communiqué on “Education in Conflict Situations,”. Recalling the AU’s 2024 education theme, and endorsed 2025–2034 as a decade of accelerated action. It condemned attacks on schools and the military use of education facilities, urged full respect for IHL/IHRL, and called on states to criminalize violations and accelerate domestication of the Safe Schools Declaration. Operational priorities included contingency planning, temporary learning centres and digital distance learning; integrating peace and psychosocial education; teacher training for peacebuilding; community-based initiatives to prevent radicalization; and stronger protection of children and women. The Council tasked the AUC to develop a conflict-education protection policy, issue scorecards on harmful practices (e.g., child marriage), create a matrix of AU legal frameworks with an action plan, mobilize resources via AU mechanisms, and promote innovative financing and higher domestic allocations for emergency education. The PSC commended ESTI’s contributions and decided to remain seized of the matter.