Safe Schools Common Approach

Hazards in and around school threaten children’s rights to education and protection. Safe Schools is an all-hazards approach to keep children safe in and around school from violence, natural and everyday hazards, and conflict. It builds upon evidence from Comprehensive School Safety, Violence Free Schools, and Schools as Zones of Peace. If you are already using one of these approaches, the Safe Schools Common Approach will help you design and implement programming that addresses the full spectrum of risks that children face in and around school. Safe Schools uses a ’whole school’ approach which engages stakeholders across all levels of the socioecological model (children, caregivers, teachers, school management, communities, civil society, and government authorities) to make both immediate and lasting improvements for children’s safety and protection in and around school. It uses a ‘collective impact’ approach to mobilize stakeholders for impacts at scale. Safe Schools programming can be adapted for both development and humanitarian contexts. Check out this 5-minute video to “Hear it from the Children” about how Safe Schools programming is improving children’s right to education and protection in conflict settings. More video testimonies on Safe Schools programming in conflict settings can be found on this YouTube playlist. Safe Schools is a collaboration between Child Protection and Education. For more information, please contact Elyse Leonard (Project Lead) or Sarah Morgan (Violence Against Children Advisor).