The end of the Cold War did not bring an end to tension and conflict. Numerous conflicts have arisen within, as well as between nations. Many states are in a fragile situation and at risk of future possible conflict, especially at times of socio-economic hardship. Children in particular are victims of such conflicts, with schools serving as military targets or barracks, children and adolescents recruited as combatants, girls raped, teachers sometimes assassinated, and education systems partially or completely disrupted. Emergency education deals with the consequences of such situations, as well as with the disruption of education caused by natural disasters.

About UNESCO PEER UNESCO PEER (Programme for Education for Emergencies and Reconstruction) began its existence in Mogadishu as UNESCO-Somalia in January 1993. An Education Development Centre (EDC) was set up which brought together and reintegrated trained Somali educationists into their specialized work. The programme expanded to the rest of Somalia, N.W. Somalia (Somaliland), and to the refugee camps in Kenya, Djibouti, Yemen and Ethiopia. The Rwandan crisis led to UNESCO PEER expanding its operations to Rwanda and the refugee camps in Tanzania and Zaire. Occasionally, the PEER expertise is shared, on demand, in areas outside of the programme's operations such as Eritrea, Angola and South Sudan refugee camps. The creation of PEER and other similar programmes in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Angola, Mozambique, Haiti, Yemen, Afghanistan and Iraq is UNESCO's response to emergencies. This response typically translates into educational interventions all along the "relief-to-development" continuum. Problems such as absence of standardized curricula, destroyed school infrastructure, need for re-professionalization (of teachers, inspectors and educational administrators), and the need for peace, tolerance and reconciliation are addressed through such things as Teacher Emergency Packages, teacher training, etc. Special thanks to the UNESCO-PEER staff in Nairobi for graciously giving of their time and facilitating collection of materials relevant to GINIE. Please contact the UNESCO-PEER office in Nairobi (address above)if you would like to contribute, be a partner or for further information about the program.