UNICEF on Wednesday condemned the arson of a school in the center of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince by armed groups, which left it burned and deprived more than 1,000 children of their right to education. education.
On the afternoon of Monday March 25, 2024, heavily armed groups entered the premises of a school in Port-au-Prince and set fire to 23 classrooms, said the United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF) in a press release.Tweet URLThe attacks must stop«
Attacks on schools violate children’s rights and international humanitarian law. Schools should be safe and protected spaces at all times. It is hard to believe that children have to live in constant fear of such attacks. This should not be their reality. Attacks against children and families must stop, once and for all,” declared the UNICEF Representative in Haiti,
Bruno Maes.The number of schools forced to close due to violence and insecurity has increased in recent months. By the end of January, around 900 schools had been temporarily closed, depriving around 200,000 children of their right to education. Threats to school security are particularly worrying in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and in northern Artibonite.
“In a country facing increasingly complex conflicts and instability, education can never be seen as an option; it must be recognized as a necessity, a question of survival and a key to social stability,” said Mr. Maes.
He urged all parties to protect students, educators, parents and school infrastructure, in accordance with the Safe Schools Declaration, endorsed by more than 111 countries around the world, including Haiti. “This is a political commitment to better protect students, teachers and schools during armed conflicts and to support the continuation of education,” he stressed.
