UNESCO organizes conference on right to education in Iraq

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The state of education in Iraq, and the threats facing Iraqi children, students and academics will be the subject of an international conference “Right to Education in Crisis-Affected Countries: Stop jeopardizing the future of Iraq,” at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from 30 October to 1 November, UNESCO said in a statement on Tuesday. “The conference is organized by UNESCO’s Iraq Office in close cooperation with the Office of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, UNESCO Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education, who has extended her patronage for the event,” said the statement received by IraqiNews.com. Involving the cooperation of the International Committee for the Protection of Iraqi Academics, the event will be opened by the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, in the presence of Iraqi Minister of Education, Dr. Khudair Al-Khuza’I; Dr. Abed Thiyab Al-Ujaili, the Iraqi Minister of Higher Education and a number of ministers and members of parliament from the region. ”The conference will bring together around 150 participants including Iraqi educators and students, university rectors and academics, experts, donors, representatives of international organizations, NGOs and specialists in human rights, international and humanitarian law, as well as international and regional media professionals,” it added. “The participants will examine the legal framework of the right to education in conflict situations, the media’s role in advocating that right, humanitarian responses and post-conflict reconstruction in the education sector,” the statement noted. “The Conference will focus on five themes identified as priorities: access to quality basic education; protection of Iraqi intellectuals, academics, teachers, students and educational institutions; issues facing Iraqi universities; educational issues facing displaced persons in Iraq and the implications of internal displacement for the Iraqi education system; educational issues facing refugees in neighbouring countries and their implications for education in Iraq,” it said. SH (S) 1