IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 277 
Affirming the importance of access to safe, quality education, including 
protection from attacks on education, for children in conflict settings. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 1, 2019 
Mrs. LOWEY (for herself and Mr. CHABOT) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Affirming the importance of access to safe, quality education, 
including protection from attacks on education, for chil-
dren in conflict settings. 
Whereas providing children with education is critical to the 
international, humanitarian, and development efforts of 
the United States; 
Whereas 142,000,000 children live in high-intensity conflict 
zones, according to a February 2019 report from Save 
the Children; 
Whereas grave violations against children, which are defined 
by the United Nations Security Council as the killing and 
maiming of children, recruitment or use of children as 
soldiers, sexual violence against children, abduction of 
children, and attacks against schools or hospitals, have 
nearly tripled since 2010; 
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•HRES 277 IH 
Whereas attacks on education settings, including targeted 
killings, sexual and gender-based violence, abduction, 
child recruitment, intimidation, threats, military occupa-
tion, and destruction of property, are common tactics in 
conflict; 
Whereas there were 1,432 verified attacks on schools in con-
flict contexts in 2017, according to the United Nations 
Secretary General’s annual report on children and armed 
conflict; 
Whereas conflict limits educational opportunities for millions 
of students worldwide, and regions with low rates of edu-
cation have a 50-percent chance of experiencing conflict; 
Whereas 27,000,000 children of primary and lower secondary 
school age are out of school in 24 conflict-affected coun-
tries, and refugee children are 5 times more likely to be 
out of school as compared to nonrefugee children; 
Whereas only 61 percent of refugee children attend primary 
school compared to 92 percent of nonrefugee children, 
only 23 percent of refugee adolescents attend secondary 
school compared to 84 percent globally, and only 1 per-
cent of refugee children make it to a university; 
Whereas education in emergencies is lifesaving, providing ac-
cess to critical services, including nutrition, health serv-
ices, mental health and psychosocial support, water, sani-
tation, and hygiene; 
Whereas education supports children’s safety and well-being 
as part of child protection strategies; 
Whereas education accounts for less than 2 percent of total 
global humanitarian funding and child-specific protection 
programs account for 0.53 percent; 
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•HRES 277 IH 
Whereas girls and boys experience conflict differently, en-
counter distinct gender-related barriers to education, and 
require gender-responsive and context-specific approaches 
to education, child protection, and health services, includ-
ing mental health and psychosocial support programming; 
Whereas girls, children with disabilities, and those impacted 
by traumatic experiences living in conflict contexts face 
significant barriers to access, enrollment, and attendance 
in schools; 
Whereas access to quality educational opportunities can con-
tribute to peace and security as well as mitigate factors 
that lead to conflict and displacement; and 
Whereas Congress passed the Reinforcing Education Ac-
countability in Development Act (Public Law 115–56), 
and the Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulner-
able Settings Act (Public Law 115–442), which recognize 
the importance of education in crisis and conflict situa-
tions, and require reporting on progress toward a com-
prehensive United States strategy to promote quality 
basic education in partner countries and address the 
needs of displaced girls: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) condemns attacks on education settings, in-
cluding violence against schools, the military use of 
schools, acts of sexual violence against children in 
school settings, and the abduction and recruitment 
of children into armed forces from schools; 
(2) affirms the commitment of the United 
States Government to support educational services 
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