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Ukrainian schools under attack – Kiwis donate $1.2million

<h2>An average of 22 schools per day have come under attack in Ukraine since the start of the war five weeks ago&comma; with military operations <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;apc01&period;safelinks&period;protection&period;outlook&period;com&sol;&quest;url&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fnews&period;un&period;org&percnt;2Fen&percnt;2Fstory&percnt;2F2022&percnt;2F02&percnt;2F1112272&amp&semi;data&equals;04&percnt;7C01&percnt;7Camie&period;richardson&percnt;40scnz&period;org&period;nz&percnt;7Cb949bab7607c4384eeae08da1629339b&percnt;7Ccc586fccf9b04ce4b1e1e928aa024244&percnt;7C0&percnt;7C0&percnt;7C637846663496195092&percnt;7CUnknown&percnt;7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0&percnt;3D&percnt;7C3000&amp&semi;sdata&equals;PEMhplOJViuZGS62XpMyVbQc8bDQvSIyUBiMbMju2v0&percnt;3D&amp&semi;reserved&equals;0" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">disrupting the education of 5&period;5 million<&sol;a> children remaining in the country&comma; reports Save the Children NZ this week&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>New Zealanders have donated more than &dollar;1&period;2million to the charity&&num;8217&semi;s response for children impacted by the war in Ukraine as reports of daily attacks on schools across the country continue to come through&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At least <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;apc01&period;safelinks&period;protection&period;outlook&period;com&sol;&quest;url&equals;http&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fsaveschools&period;in&period;ua&percnt;2Fen&percnt;2F&amp&semi;data&equals;04&percnt;7C01&percnt;7Camie&period;richardson&percnt;40scnz&period;org&period;nz&percnt;7Cb949bab7607c4384eeae08da1629339b&percnt;7Ccc586fccf9b04ce4b1e1e928aa024244&percnt;7C0&percnt;7C0&percnt;7C637846663496195092&percnt;7CUnknown&percnt;7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0&percnt;3D&percnt;7C3000&amp&semi;sdata&equals;Fnz&percnt;2BlvkyNY509uNZcfAwh58KhPnc5F2&percnt;2FHilCdqlcLE4&percnt;3D&amp&semi;reserved&equals;0" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">869 education facilities<&sol;a> &&num;8211&semi; or about 6&percnt; of all schools in the country &&num;8211&semi; have been damaged with 83 completely destroyed&comma; according to the Ukraine Ministry of Education and Science&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Schools should be safe places of learning for children and must be free from attacks&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Save the Children New Zealand Chief Executive Heidi Coetzee says&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;This latest news is further proof that our fundraising efforts here in Aotearoa New Zealand are so important&period; We have been truly humbled by the support we’ve received from everyday Kiwis alongside corporate partners&comma; including a massive &dollar;360&comma;000 from the Kiwi-founded Conqueror Virtual Challenges app&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;These children have experienced things no child should ever be exposed to&period; In every conflict it is children who bear the brunt and this needs to stop&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>About 43&percnt; of attacks on schools have taken place in eastern Ukraine&comma; where more than 400&comma;000 children were living before the conflict escalated on 24 February&period; Shelling and bombing have destroyed 50 educational buildings in the besieged city of Kharkiv alone&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>So far&comma; more than two million children have fled the war in Ukraine while an estimated 5&period;5 million remain inside the country&comma; in grave risk of physical and emotional harm as bombs and shelling continue to destroy complete neighbourhoods&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The conflict has exacerbated an already challenging education context in Ukraine&period; Before the escalation of the crisis&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;apc01&period;safelinks&period;protection&period;outlook&period;com&sol;&quest;url&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;humanitarianresponse&period;info&percnt;2Fen&percnt;2Fdocument&percnt;2Fukraine-2021-humanitarian-needs-overview-hno-enua&amp&semi;data&equals;04&percnt;7C01&percnt;7Camie&period;richardson&percnt;40scnz&period;org&period;nz&percnt;7Cb949bab7607c4384eeae08da1629339b&percnt;7Ccc586fccf9b04ce4b1e1e928aa024244&percnt;7C0&percnt;7C0&percnt;7C637846663496195092&percnt;7CUnknown&percnt;7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0&percnt;3D&percnt;7C3000&amp&semi;sdata&equals;JYAvcOGTsHBXmD6Ka8SJzHvOtM3jQUbsQFTdHA6UYfI&percnt;3D&amp&semi;reserved&equals;0" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">30&percnt; of education facilities<&sol;a> in eastern Ukraine reported not having enough teachers&period; As thousands continue to flee their homes every day&comma; there is an increased shortage of teachers and other educational personnel inside Ukraine&period; Most teachers in the country are female which is increasing shortages as the majority of people fleeing the conflict are women and children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Education is under attack in Ukraine&period; All students and teachers must be protected from the horrors of this war&comma;&&num;8221&semi; says Pete Walsh&comma; Save the Children Country Director in Ukraine&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Learning cannot and should not be put aside in times of crisis&semi; it is crucial to children’s protection&comma; survival and their future&period; Access to safe education provides children with stability and structure throughout an emergency&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;This conflict has been ongoing for eight years in parts of the country&comma; which has harmed children&&num;8217&semi;s education&comma; and led to hundreds of schools being damaged or destroyed&period; This war is spiralling out of control&period; It is unbearable to see schools and nurseries attacked indiscriminately&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Attacks on schools and other education facilities are classified as a grave violation committed against children and can constitute a war crime&period; Schools in eastern Ukraine have been under fire since the conflict began in 2014&comma; with <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;apc01&period;safelinks&period;protection&period;outlook&period;com&sol;&quest;url&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;savethechildren&period;net&percnt;2Fnews&percnt;2Fukraine-attacks-schools-endangering-children-s-lives-and-futures&amp&semi;data&equals;04&percnt;7C01&percnt;7Camie&period;richardson&percnt;40scnz&period;org&period;nz&percnt;7Cb949bab7607c4384eeae08da1629339b&percnt;7Ccc586fccf9b04ce4b1e1e928aa024244&percnt;7C0&percnt;7C0&percnt;7C637846663496195092&percnt;7CUnknown&percnt;7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0&percnt;3D&percnt;7C3000&amp&semi;sdata&equals;y7Qe6RMP8riu0aB1I4eLJQM3FXjUC3CDlgl8wqxUejU&percnt;3D&amp&semi;reserved&equals;0" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">more than 750 schools<&sol;a> destroyed&comma; damaged&comma; or forced to close before the recent escalation of violence&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>All children have the right to a safe education under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child &lpar;UNCRC&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While fighting is ongoing&comma; there are international legal obligations to take all necessary precautions to protect civilians and civilian objects&comma; including schools and hospitals&comma; which are protected under International Humanitarian Law&period; Parties must uphold and protect the civilian nature of schools&comma; students&comma; and education staff &&num;8211&semi; and refrain from military-related use of educational facilities&period; The use of explosive weapons in populated areas should also be avoided as it risks severe harm to civilians&comma; in particular children&period; To date&comma; these are the main causes of civilian harm&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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Heather Barker Vermeer

Heather has worked as a journalist, writer and editor in England and Aotearoa New Zealand for over 20 years. She fell in love with words when she received a 'Speak & Spell' tech toy for Christmas in 1984.

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