Every week, children all across the globe pack their bags and head to school. It’s a place for play, for learning, and for growth. They develop skills they can use into adulthood and friends they’ll cherish forever. In the midst of disaster and war, school can be a safe haven.

School looks vastly different all around the world but these photos prove that it can be life-changing for children no matter where they are. Take a look.
 

Afghanistan

Not long ago, Kayenat fled war and violence. She left behind her home and everything that was familiar to seek safety in a camp in Afghanistan. In her hometown, school was either banned or threatened by frequent bombings due to the conflict. Now, Kayenat has a reason to be happy. She and more than 1,770 other internally displaced students have the chance to learn. 
 

Syria

In Syria, every bullet-ridden blackboard, burnt schoolbook and closed classroom means more than just another destroyed building. This destruction tells the story of two million children forced out of school by the country’s conflict - each child robbed of safety, friendships, and the bright future they deserve. 

 

These children have seen more violence in their few years than anyone should in a lifetime. They left behind their homes, friends, and the communities they grew up with and found safety in a makeshift camp in northern rural Idlib, Syria.

Now, they’re back in school in a UNICEF-provided tented classroom where more than 350 students have been able to learn, play, and be children again. With education supplies provided by UNICEF, a volunteer teacher has turned six tents into the most basic of classrooms. 

Remember the joy of new school supplies? For this girl in Syria, her first day of the school term and UNICEF school bag mark a fresh chance at education in a country where more than 2 million children are out of school. Packed with notebooks, a pencil case, pens, crayons, and other stationary, UNICEF will distribute one million of these bags to children like her eager to learn again.

Nigeria

Mozambique

 

In 2019, Mozambique was hit by two tropical cyclones that wreaked deadly havoc on the local community. More than 3,400 classrooms were damaged or destroyed. In some cases, schools were being used for emergency shelters for children and families displaced by the storm. The cyclones may have torn through Leonora and her friend Olga's future too, if UNICEF wasn't quick to supply school tents and temporary learning spaces. 
 

Iraq

 

For many girls, classrooms are a place of safety, stability and opportunity. But due to the war in Iraq, Farah was forced to drop out. Thankfully, Farah has since returned to learning through a UNICEF-supported school which runs a shift for boys and a shift for girls.

UNICEF has helped rebuild almost 300 schools that will allow students to return to the classroom each year. But, there are still thousands more that are deprived of an education. 

"There is no life without school," Farah says.
 

Indonesia

In an emergency, education is just like water, sanitation and nutrition - it cannot wait. Schools help children to stay safe, to cope with the profound stress of a crisis and to prepare for a more peaceful future. When a tsunami stuck Sulawesi, Indonesia, last year, UNICEF helped get children, like Aril, back to learning in UNICEF school tents. 

 

Yemen

 

In Yemen, children have been suddenly robbed of their access to education with many schools heavily damaged during airstrikes and escalating conflict. More than two million children are out of school and the education of another 3.7 million children hangs in the balance as teachers' salaries have not been paid in over two years. 

UNICEF is working around the clock to pay incentives to teachers and school-based staff, to rehabilitate schools, and to provide learning materials for children. Learning to read, write, and develop our talents is a right we all have, wherever we are born.
 

Ukraine

 

This school has fallen victim to violence in Ukraine. Education is crucial for every child to thrive in life, especially after years of ongoing conflict. That’s why UNICEF is committed to fulfilling this basic right for all children – even in conflict zones.
 

Guatemala

 

A school is not just a place for learning. It’s also a place where children can find stability and safety even during stressful times. Staying in school has helped children avoid violence and choose a future of their own making.

Côte d'Ivoire

 

 

Fiji

Cyclone Winston damaged 11-year old Wiliame’s school beyond repair. Here, he is sitting outside what was once his library. At least 240 schools were damaged or destroyed in the cyclone, which was the strongest storm ever recorded to hit land in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Here’s a glimpse of how tents are getting children back to learning, playing and smiling in Fiji after the trauma of Cyclone Winston. They’ve made a big difference for these students from a school in Dobuilevu village, Ra Province, who can’t wait to start school again. UNICEF gave to the school two school tents and teaching and learning materials. 

 

Nepal

 

In 2015, earthquakes tore through Laxmi’s classroom in Nepal and 32,000 other classes like it. The earthquakes may have destroyed Laxmi’s future, too, if her local community hadn’t banded together to rebuild her school. A few hours of digging holes, sawing bamboo, and transporting furniture helped build the makeshift classroom that got Laxmi and her classmates back to school as soon as possible.
 

 

Haiti

 

Something as small as a pencil and a book can mean the world to the children after disaster. UNICEF rebuilt this school after Haiti’s 2010 earthquake to help kids return to learning as quickly as possible and regain a sense of normalcy. 
 

South Sudan

 

These are the charred remains of 12 year-old Chubat’s school in South Sudan. Her country is home to the highest proportion of children out of school in the world but UNICEF is helping to change that. UNICEF rebuilt Chubat’s school, trained teachers and provided supplies so that almost 250,000 other children like her could go to school too. 

 

Let’s give every child the chance to learn

• Providing teachers with the training and supplies they need to help children reach their potential
• Supplying safe water and hygiene facilities to schools to keep children attending
• Working with governments to stop schools being taken over by armed groups during conflict
• Delivering temporary learning shelters so children can keep learning when disaster strikes