The United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education， Gordon Brown， called today for “fundamental changes” to strengthen the global commitment to defending the rights of schoolgirls and boys， as he said that 2015 should be the year to end violations of children’s rights.

“Today I am making a plea from the heart to the conscience of the world that we now wake up to the suffering faced by millions of children，” Mr. Brown said during a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

“It is time for us to end the shameful breaches of international law that violate the rights of millions of children by calling a halt to the militarisation of schools， stopping the now-growing abduction of school pupils as weapons of war and insisting – even in conflict zones – that properly resourced ‘safe schools’ enable children to enjoy their education in peace.”

He urged the international community to invest in making schools safer in the world’s most troubled and dangerous areas by agreeing the terms of a new Global Humanitarian Fund for Education in Emergencies； to commit $163 million at an upcoming conference on educating Syrian refugees in Lebanon； and by signing the international Safe Schools Declaration to protect schools from military use and attacks by giving the same protection as is afforded to the Red Cross.

Mr. Brown also announced a project in Pakistan under the Safe Schools Initiative， which was already operating in Nigeria， and he looked forward to extending the initiative to South Sudan， Lebanon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

http：//www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp？NewsID=50366#.VREacz9rE_w