Report

Protection Snapshot: Access to Education in “Other Situations of Violence” in the North of Central America.

Published 05. Jun 2019
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In the North of Central America, schools are no longer safe spaces. Access to education is threatened by the presence of armed gangs in schools, looking to recruit and harm children and teenagers. Dropout rates are high, as is forced displacement. This protection snapshot highlights the protection risks and the governmental and humanitarian responses to violence in schools.

In communities affected by violence in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, schools often have to shut due to threats from gangs, and teachers constantly ask to transfer away from communities affected by violence. On the way to school and in classrooms, children and teenagers face forced recruitment, sexual violence, and child labour, among other risks. In order to stay safe, children often drop out of school and stay confined at home, or become forcibly displaced with their families. It is estimated that up to 900,000 children are out of school in Honduras. In 2018 alone, 49,000 children dropped out of school in El Salvador, as did 227,000 in Guatemala.

Across the region, there remains to be an adequate response to the violence, and there are a range of barriers preventing children from returning to school. The snapshot provides recommendations for resolving this urgent situation, as well as presents best practices to be replicated by the humanitarian sector.

This is the fourth snapshot report on the protection situation in the North of Central America: an initiative of the REDLAC Regional Protection Group for the NCA, led by the Norwegian Refugee Council, and supported by UNHCR and AECID. The reports aim to present short regular analyses of the current situation and the humanitarian response to violence in the region, and are based on contributions from humanitarian organisations operating in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.