INEE Minimum Standards Overview

Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction - A Commitment to Access, Quality and Accountability

Wars and natural disasters deny generations the knowledge and opportunities that an education can provide. Education is not only a right, but in situations of emergencies, chronic crises and early reconstruction, it is a necessity that can be both life-sustaining and life-saving, providing physical, psychosocial and cognitive protection. It sustains life by offering physical safe space for learning, as well as the ability for providing support to and screening those affected, particularly children and adolescents. Education mitigates the psychosocial impact of conflict and disasters by giving a sense of normalcy, stability, structure and hope for the future during a time of crisis. It can save lives by protecting against exploitation and harm, including abduction, child soldiering and sexual and gender-based violence. Lastly, education provides the knowledge and skills to survive in a crisis through the dissemination of lifesaving information about landmine safety, HIV/AIDS prevention, conflict resolution and peace-building.

In order to develop a tool to help achieve a minimum level of educational access and quality in emergencies and early reconstruction as well as to ensure the accountability of the workers who provide these services, INEE’s Working Group on Minimum Standards facilitated a highly consultative process to develop Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction. The INEE Minimum Standards were developed with the participation of over 2,250 individuals from more than 50 countries in 2003 and 2004. They were developed by stakeholders from a variety of levels and have evolved out of emergency and early reconstruction environments around the world. As such, they are designed for use in emergency response, emergency preparedness and in humanitarian advocacy and are applicable in a wide range of situations, including natural disasters and armed conflicts. The standards give guidance and flexibility in responding to needs at the most important level – the community – while providing a harmonised framework to coordinate the educational activities of national governments, other authorities, funding agencies, and national and international agencies. INEE’s Minimum Standards are founded on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Dakar 2000 Education for All goals and the Sphere Project’s Humanitarian Charter.

A handbook of Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction (Referred to as the INEE Minimum Standards) was launched at INEE’s Second Global Inter-Agency Consultation on Education in Emergencies and Early Recovery in South Africa in December 2004. The handbook is designed to give governments and humanitarian workers the tools that they need to address the Education for All and UN Millennium Development Goals. It is the first step toward ensuring that education initiatives in emergency situations provide a solid and sound basis for post-conflict and disaster reconstruction. The Minimum Standards cover five categories:

  • Minimum Standards Common to All Categories: focuses on the essential areas of community participation and utilization of local resources when applying the standards in this handbook, as well as ensuring that emergency education responses are based on an initial assessment that is followed by an appropriate response and continued monitoring and evaluation.
  • Access and Learning Environment: focuses on partnerships to promote access to learning opportunities as well as inter-sectoral linkages with, for example, health, water and sanitation, food aid and shelter, to enhance security and physical, cognitive and psychological well-being.
  • Teaching and Learning: focuses on critical elements that promote effective teaching and learning: 1) curriculum, 2) training, 3) instruction, and 4) assessment.
  • Teachers and other Education Personnel: focuses on the administration and management of human resources in the field of education, including recruitment and selection, conditions of service, and supervision and support.
  • Education Policy and Coordination: focuses on policy formulation and enactment, planning and implementation, and coordination.

In addition, cross-cutting issues, such as human and children’s rights, gender, the right of the population to participate, HIV/AIDS, disability and vulnerability, have been incorporated into the relevant standards rather than being dealt with in a separate section.

INEE’s current Working Group on Minimum Standards (2005-2008) is facilitating these aspects related to the INEE Minimum Standards:

The INEE Minimum Standards development and implementation process has received financial support from the Academy for Educational Development and the Global Learning Portal, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the International Rescue Committee, the International Save the Children Alliance, Save the Children Norway, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), US contributions to UNESCO for the reconstruction of education systems in post-conflict countries, UNHCR, UNICEF, USAID, the US Contribution to UNESCO for Reconstruction of Education Systems, and the World Bank. In addition, hundreds of organizations have made enormous in-kind contributions to the process, through the commitment of staff time, travel, translations and other resources.

If you have any questions or would like to become involved in the process, please contact the INEE Coordinator for Minimum Standards: Jennifer Hofmann: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Sudan, 2007, Save the Children.