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Education International
Education International

A World at School launches its plan to keep Pakistan’s schools safe

published 17 February 2015 updated 19 February 2015

The announcement of a 15-point plan to boost safety in Pakistan’s schools by the UN Envoy for Global Education and Pakistan’s Prime Minister comes two months following the deadly attack in Peshawar.

In a multi-million dollar campaign to boost girls’ and boys’ education in Pakistan, the NGO A World at School has released a 15-point plan for a Pakistan Safe Schools Initiative. The UN Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have thrown their support behind the plan, which is aimed at making the country’s schools safer.

"I am personally committed to making this initiative a success," said Prime Minister Sharif.

The prime minister and UN Envoy have agreed to work together to improve safety in Pakistan’s schools after gunman carried out a massacre at a school in Peshawar last December. Appeals to governments, foundations and the business community are being made to finance the plan.

For forty years Pakistan has been plagued by more attacks on its schools than any other country in the world, taking the lives of hundreds of teachers and students.

The 15-point plan for a Pakistan Safe Schools Initiative includes:

*Community engagement to establish peace zones in and around schools

*Negotiations with religious leaders to promote education

*Establishing a community watch system

*Individual security plans for every school

*Setting up of rapid response units

*Installing state-of-the-art communication systems

*Creating special plans for schools in high-risk areas

photographer:

Akhtar Soomro

© UNESCO