As part of its research and policy work, the Center focuses on examining how education can be a vital part of a comprehensive humanitarian strategy for conflict, post-conflict and refugee settings. Education can provide a healing and safe place for children of conflict; it can provide a sense of much needed normalcy in a chaotic conflict environment, it can teach non-violence and understanding, and most importantly, it can give young people who have been through the worst misfortune and even horrors, the tools to build a better life for themselves and a better future for their nations. Yet education in emergencies and post-conflict situations too often falls through the cracks; overlooked because it is not seen as “life-saving” or because donors do not trust the governments in which these children live. The Center's work seeks to address this gap by

(a)   studying and promoting best practices and model programs including those standards developed by the INEE, and

(b)   drafting and delivering new analyses and recommendations on international financing of education in conflict situations to major stakeholders including G-8 development agencies, the United Nations, and World Bank

(c)   creating support, understanding and momentum for the design and implementation of high-quality education projects for children of conflict