Release of GCPEA’s Report on Expert Consultations on Strengthening Accountability for Attacks on Education

Justice Rapid Response (JRR) welcomes the most recent report published by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) on key findings and recommendations to strengthen accountability for attacks on education.

Education related crimes are a grave and rising concern, in which justice remains elusive for the overwhelming majority of victims and survivors.

To address this issue, the GCPEA, in partnership with the Permanent Mission of Spain, the Permanent Mission of Norway, the Education Above All Foundation and with technical support from JRR through the deployment of an International Legal Advisor to support this initiative, hosted an expert roundtable in Geneva last July. The key findings and recommendations of the roundtable will inform and guide the development of a toolkit that will equip justice professionals to strengthen accountability for education-related crimes.

Below are some of the key findings from the roundtable:

• Change in attitudes towards attacks on education and policy reforms are required to criminalize, prioritise, investigate, and prosecute attacks on education as international crimes.
• A comprehensive and contextually adaptable toolbox is needed to bring perpetrators to justice, including awareness raising and information tools, training on contextual analysis and resources on open-source intelligence.
• A robust legislation at the national level is required as national courts are the first forum to address international crimes. Legislative checklists or model laws can help policy makers in that regard.
• As accountability is a broad term, a range of judicial and non-judicial implementation measures need to be considered.
• Ensuring that child victims and witnesses are treated with care and respect, in line with international standards, throughout an entire justice process is critical.

Based on these recommendations, partners will pursue this project by developing the Protecting Education Accountability Toolbox, which should be rolled out in collaboration with the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) in Colombia in November 2025. JRR will continue providing technical support to its partners to advance accountability for education-related crimes.