Children cannot wait for education while we debate the difficulties and the details. Peace begins in the minds of children, and it must begin today.

In a first-ever joint statement , more than thirty winners of the Nobel Peace Prize called for urgent action to implement quality education and build peace in conflict-affected countries.

The Nobel Laureates, including President Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Aung San Suu Kyi, urged world leaders to pay more attention to the educational needs of more than 37 million children who live in fragile states and are unable to go to school.

In a joint letter to world leaders, initiated by Save the Children, thirty-one Nobel Peace Prize winners say:

"War and conflict are perpetrated by adults. But every adult was once a child and grew up with experiences and guidance that shaped their lives. At the heart of this lies education. But if more than 70 million children do not even have the chance to go to school, and more than half of these children live in countries affected by armed conflict - what are these children learning?"

The letter comes at a time when millions of children continue to be denied an education because of war. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, even before the recent fighting, 5 million of the 9.6 million children of school age are unable to go to school. Without adequate protection from the escalating conflict in recent weeks, even more children have been forced to flee their schools.

Some schools have even been targeted to recruit schoolchildren as child soldiers. An analysis of civil wars of the past fifty years showed that each year of formal schooling attended by boys reduces the risk of their becoming involved in conflict by 20 percent - yet children in trapped in this spiral of conflict, continue to be denied education.

 

 Watch the Video