On June 16, 1976, thousands of South African students marched through the streets of Soweto to protest an education reform that aimed to impose Afrikaans as the language of instruction in schools.
What began as a peaceful demonstration turned into a violent confrontation with police, leaving two students dead and hundreds more injured. Outrage over the attacks spread across South Africa and thousands of students from all races in the country joined the protests, marking a critical milestone for the anti-apartheid struggle.
The Soweto protests inspired the Organization of African Unity to establish June 16th as the Day of the African Child. Since 1991, June 16th serves as an annual reminder of the ongoing need for improvement of education in Africa, especially in countries where education is threatened by conflict or repression.
On this day, ICTJ recognizes the power of education to transform society, and acknowledges children and young people as agents of societal change, especially in countries dealing with a legacy of abuse.
To mark the Day of the African Child, we take a look at the role of education in transitional justice efforts, and showcase a special initiative driven by youth in Cote d’Ivoire.
Children and youth experience the effects of human rights violations uniquely from adults. They may have suffered first-hand abuse—such as forced recruitment, torture, displacement or sexual assault—resulting in serious physical and psychological harm. They may have lost those who took care of them—through killings, unlawful detention, or disappearances—suffering the trauma of both separation and loss of support. In contexts of conflict, they may have also been deprived of adequate education or healthcare if basic facilities were destroyed.
In societies where these kinds of abuses happened recently, education systems must prepare to deal with these experiences.
| Even if young people did not themselves experience grave human rights abuses, education systems still have an immediate role in shaping a young person’s understanding about the past: if youth grow up in the shadow of events that have gone unaddressed by the relevant authorities, the education system can become a space that perpetuates myths or misunderstandings about the past. |
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If their parents or close relatives have been victims of conflict or traumatic events, even young people growing up in times of peace or relative stability are affected by the reverberations of the past.
Schools and universities provide the fundamental historical narratives for young people, shaping their understanding of the past. Investment in education is essential to create a future generation that avoids mistakes of the past, but it cannot be achieved if they turn their back to the truth about a legacy of abuse.
“Today, education is internationally recognized as a right,” said Clara Ramírez-Barat, Senior Associate leading ICTJ’s research project with UNICEF on transitional justice and education in peacebuilding contexts. “But it is also an enabling right, because access to education is fundamental for the enjoyment of other rights, including civil and political rights.”
Education in Africa as an Avenue for Transition
Several countries on the African continent are actively working to provide justice for crimes of the past, establish the truth about past conflicts, and grant adequate reparations for victims. At the same time, many of these same countries are struggling to provide or ensure access to even the most basic education for children.
In some of those contexts, transitional justice mechanisms are recognizing the critical role of youth as stakeholders in their countries’ transformations: for example, Kenya’s Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) included a chapter about children’s experience in its final report. And in Uganda, a recent conference organized by the youth network AYINET brought together young people to be a part of discussions on implementing reforms and redress for victims of war.
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“Countries such as Uganda, DRC, Cote d’Ivoire, and others have young populations that are coming of age in the immediate wake of violent conflict,” said Virginie Ladisch, director of ICTJ’s Children and Youth program. “These governments have a responsibility to ensure that post-conflict priorities include educational policies which acknowledge this history, and create spaces for youth to safely question, learn about, and engage with the past.” |
Education policies that are designed to empower young people help them become productive members of society by accessing the job market, but also informed and active democratic citizens. Transitional justice measures can contribute to the recognition of youth’s unique experiences of conflict while also fostering meaningful participation in how a society moves forward.
In recognition of the critical linkages between transitional justice and education, ICTJ has initiated a focused engagement with educators, students, and education policymakers in countries around the world, led by the work of its Children and Youth program, in countries including in Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, and Colombia.
Spotlight on Cote d’Ivoire: Youth Advocating for Improved Education
In Cote d’Ivoire, ICTJ has been working with youth to engage them in a discussion on how the conflict has impacted their lives, and how their experiences relate to truth seeking, reparations, and education.
In 2002, ethnic tensions inflamed by politicians developed into a civil war in Cote d’Ivoire, dividing communities and destroying public institutions, including the education system. In many cases schools became sites of conflict by providing a space for violent political and social confrontation. Since 2004, hundreds of thousands of children and youth have been out of school due to forced displacement and lack of education access in areas of the country controlled by the rebels.
| “In countries overcoming conflict, education reconstruction is critical for long-term sustainable development and peace,” said Mohamed Suma, director of ICTJ’s program in Cote d’Ivoire. “In contexts such as that of Cote d'Ivoire where education itself and/or exclusion from it contributed to the conflict, the efforts to rebuild must also be sensitive how the conflict has impacted both the education sector itself and the political culture of a country.” |
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In preparation for the Day of the African Child, the youth group RE2JT (le Réseau des Enfants et Jeunes pour la Justice Transitionnelle en Côte d’Ivoire), with ICTJ’s support, has written a letter to the authorities in response to the questions: How has the conflict in Cote d’Ivoire impacted the quality of children and youth education? What measures should be taken to improve education in the country?
In the letter, the youth call for the documentation of children and youth’s experiences during the conflict and its impact on their lives. They believe this is important in order to understand their experiences of the conflict, to analyze the reasons for these events, and to put in place measures to prevent the recurrence of violations.
They also urge the Commission Dialogue Vérité et Réconciliation (CDVR) to include the experiences of children and youth as a central focus in its final report, and to make specific recommendations for reparations to youth victims of the conflict. To the judicial authorities, the youth ask to equally sanction all those who violated the rights of children during the conflict, and for improved reintegration assistance to youth who were involved with armed groups.
This week, the CDVR will begin taking statements from children, which ICTJ recognizes as a crucial opportunity for the country to learn how the conflict has affected its youngest generations. "Their voices should serve to shape the final report and recommendations presented by the CDVR, and then be incorporated into educational materials," said Suma.
Taking a lead in this process, RE2JT is finalizing its own report which it will share with children and youth across Cote d’Ivoire, as well as presenting the report and recommendations to the authorities.
"If there are to be solutions for a durable peace, we have to consult with those who will be in charge of implementing that peace," stressed Ladisch. "Children and youth across Africa have ideas, perspectives, and possible solutions to many of the problems plaguing their countries. It is time their voices were heard."
ICTJ’s research Unit is collaborating with UNICEF and the Children and Youth Program in a research project that aims to shed light on the connections between transitional justice and education in peacebuilding contexts, at both the theoretical and practical levels. Read more here.
Photo: Students attend class on April 26, 2011 in the BAD college in the Koumassi popular neighborhood of Abidjan as the governemnt of Alassane Ouattara called for the reopening of schools, which had been closed for three weeks due to the unrest sparked by former strongman Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to hand over power to Ouattara, whom the international community recognized as the winner of the November elections. (SIA KAMBOU/AFP/Getty Images)
