Moving the Needle on Accountability for Attacks on Education One Tool at the Time

JRR has been recently trying to move the needle on accountability for attacks on education, a prevailing issue in countries affected by armed-conflict which prevents children from enjoying their right to education and that may amount to international crimes.

Earlier this year, the GCPEA launched their Guide on Investigating and Prosecuting Education-Related Crimes, accompanied with a Toolkit to help justice actors better measure the scope and impact of attacks on education and address gaps in monitoring and reporting.

To support the GCPEA in operationalizing their Guide and Toolkit, JRR was proud  to deploy a Legal and Child Rights Expert from its Roster to organize an expert roundtable to gather input and help equip justice professionals to strengthen accountability for education-related crimes.

The main outcome of this roundtable was the development by the GCPEA – with the support of JRR – of the Legislative Checklist to be added to GCPEA’s existing toolkit. Since then, Colombia became the first State to pilot the Legislative Checklist.

In fact, during a workshop hosted by the GCPEA and the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) and bringing together participants from the JEP, relevant line ministries, civil society organisations, and United Nations agencies, participants examined Colombia’s national legal and policy framework relating to the protection of education.

 As part of the preparatory work, the JEP conducted a macroanalysis of its case load in line with GCPEA’s Toolkit for Collecting and Analysing Data on Attacks on Education. This included reclassifying crimes affecting education and examining broader patterns of violations. The analysis provided a clearer understanding of how attacks on education are documented and investigated in Colombia and showed that the country has one of the highest number of such cases.

During the workshop, participants used the Legislative Checklist to identify specific legal and policy gaps and to discuss practical challenges in implementation. The process also promoted dialogue between justice actors, education authorities, and protection specialists, contributing to a shared understanding of the reforms needed to strengthen the protection of education. Importantly, the pilot moved beyond analysis.

Following the workshop, commitments were taken to address the identified gaps and to improve national mechanisms for preventing and responding to attacks on education. This will ultimately contribute to the development of legislative proposals. For instance, a bill has since been tabled in Parliament to help advance these reforms.

Discover more on GCPEA’s Toolkit here.