| Abstract: | This paper argues that access to quality education for refugees,
returnees and Internally Displaced Populations (IDPs) is not only fundamental
human rights but also an obligation which states and non-state actors have to
fulfill. It is also an integral part of sustainable development efforts which will
have significant contributions to socioeconomic transformations in host
countries, countries of origin and countries of destinations in the event that
refugees become migrant, which is sometimes the case. The IGAD region,
consisting of eight member states, namely, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, host more than 7.5 million forcibly
displaced people (3 million refugees and 4.5 million IDPs). This results from
protracted and devastating conflicts; drought and famine and other natural or
man-made calamities. Within the IGAD region, Somalia, South Sudan and
Sudan produce 80 to 90 percent of the refugees and IDPs due to the
protracted/on-going civil wars in the two countries. However, almost all the
member state have refugees, IDPs or migrants sheltered in their territories.
Refugees stay in their host communities for 11 years on average. Access to
higher education among refugees, returnees and IDPs is very low at only 1%
compared to 36% of the student population globally. The figure for Africa is
still dismal, at less than 1%; and the same holds true for the IGAD region. In an
effort to address this major challenge facing these population categories, the
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) convened a high level
regional (Ministerial Conference) on refugee education in Djibouti, from 12-14
December 2017. That Conference adopted what is now called the Djibouti
Declaration and Plan of Action for refugee education in the IGAD region. The
major purpose of this paper was to outline the refugee situations in general and
the state of education in particular. |
