There has been a growing interest in the potential of education systems to
contribute to social cohesion in confict-afected contexts, and a willingness on
the part of the United National Peacebuilding Support Ofce (PBSO) to support a
greater role for education in peacebuilding operations. This is in part a recognition
that structural inequality in the distribution of education opportunities has been
a key cause and symptom of confict and that a confict sensitive and quality
education has the potential to redress inequalities, promote positive attitudes
towards peace and reconciliation, restore trust and consolidate state legitimacy. The
tremendous potential of education to foster and accelerate societal transformation,
from the grassroots to state level, is widely recognised. Yet the majority of education
and peacebuilding interventions, particularly in confict-afected contexts, are
still framed in terms of service delivery and developmental assistance rather than
forming an integral part of peacebuilding policies and processes at local and
national level.
The UNICEF Peacebuilding Education and Advocacy (PBEA) programme
has pioneered eforts to strengthen policies and practices in education for
peacebuilding in 14 countries afected by confict. This has included signifcant
investment in building the evidence base related to the role of education in
peacebuilding in various contexts and regions around the world. This is a summary
of a country report on education and social cohesion in Pakistan and is a research
output from the Research Consortium on Education and Peacebuilding. Research
for the report was conducted by the University of Sussex in collaboration with the
Aga Khan University-Institute of Educational Development, Pakistan. The study
examined three interrelated research areas (RA):
RA 1 Policy How is social cohesion integrated into the education sector
at macro and micro policy levels?
RA 2 Teachers What is the role of teachers in the social cohesion process of
the country?
RA 3 Youth How do formal and non-formal social cohesion education
programmes address the agency of youth?
This summary was prepared after two-week long validation discussions with a
range of stakeholders in Pakistan—national and provincial policy-makers, the
development community and international donors, civil society organisations,
teachers, teacher educators and youth. Feedback and data generated from these
discussions have informed this summary as well as the full report, which will be used
as a basis for three synthesis reports produced by the PBEA Research Consortium:
“This is a summary of
a country report on
education
and social cohesion in
Pakistan and is a research
output from the Research
Consortium on Education
and Peacebuilding, a
co-funded partnership
between UNICEF, the
University of Amsterdam,
University of Sussex
and Ulster University
and a range of national
research partners in
participating countries.”
Report 1: The Integration of Education and Peacebuilding (Ulster University)
Report 2: The Role of Teachers in Peacebuilding (University of Sussex)
Report 3: The Role of Formal and Non Formal Peacebuilding Education Programmes Focusing on Youth
(University of Amsterdam)
Each report will synthesise fndings from 4 country case studies: Myanmar, Pakistan, South Africa and Uganda.