Beyond School Books

Beyond School Books is an effort to protect the rights of children to education through ICT-fostered discussion. The series is hosted by Amy Costello, a former correspondent for Public Radio International and an Emmy Award nominee for her coverage of Sudan. It is being taped at the United Nations Radio studios in New York and is available for downloading on the UNICEF website. As of this writing, 5 segments have been produced; they explore the following themes: When Crises Strike Children; The War's Over, Now Where's Your Homework?; Education Under Attack; 'A World Fit for Children'; and A Classroom Far from Home.

The participation of children who have lived through conflicts or disasters - and who have found education to be critical for their development during those times - is part of the programme strategy. For instance, one of the podcasts included Ishmael Beah, a youth activist and author of the book "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" (this discussion also featured Nicholas Kristof, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and columnist for The New York Times; and Dyan Mazurana, Director of Gender, Youth and Community, Feinstein International Famine Center, Tufts University). And, amongst the discussants taking part in 'A World Fit for Children' was Duhabo Goleecha, age 13, from the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.

Education.

According to UNICEF, "[t]here has been growing recognition by the international community that education is an integral part of emergency relief efforts. In times of conflict or natural disasters, providing children with schooling not only safeguards their right to education, it can also provide a locus for them to receive essential health and nutrition services, as well as helping them regain a sense of routine and teaching them essential life skills. In transition countries that have emerged from conflict, education can be a powerful tool for social transformation, rallying previously warring parties around the issue of safeguarding the rights and well-being of all children for a better future."

Some of the questions participants debate in the series include: What steps may be put into place, post-crisis, not only to provide education services to affected populations, but also to rebuild educational systems? What role can donors play in the face of low national capacity and a risky investment environment, if education is recognised as a vital component of emergency relief and post-crisis development? What are the psychosocial needs of children in post-conflict society and how may those needs be addressed in school? How can education help to rebuild hope for the children and youth who have lost out on schooling because of conflict? What are the ways in which education can hasten a return to normal development for countries affected by natural disasters and conflict? How can education help to predict and prevent conflict as well as to reduce the risks from natural disasters?