Promoting access to quality, safe, and relevant education for all persons affected by crisis

INEE Minimum Standards Handbook

The INEE Minimum Standards for Education: Preparedness, Response, Recovery is the only global tool that articulates the minimum level of educational quality and access in emergencies through to recovery. The aim of the Handbook is 1) to enhance the quality of educational preparedness, response and recovery; 2) to increase access to safe and relevant learning opportunities for all learners, regardless of their age, gender or abilities; and 3) to ensure accountability and strong coordination in the provision of education in emergencies through to recovery.  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 INEE Minimum Standards express a commitment that all individuals – children, youth, and adults – have a right to education during emergencies and fragile contexts. They echo the core beliefs of the Sphere Project: that all possible steps should be taken to alleviate human suffering arising out of calamity and conflict, and that people affected by disaster have a right to life with dignity.

To access the INEE Minimum Standards Handbook in over 20 languages, please visit the INEE Toolkit. To order a hard copy of the Handbook, please visit the Request Resources webpage.

 

Who can use the INEE Minimum Standards?

  • Educational authorities working on education policy, education sector contingency planning or direct education response to emergencies
  • Bilateral and multilateral donor agencies
  • UN agencies, NGOs and community based organizations
  • Teachers, researchers, academics and consultants working on education in emergencies.

 

How are the INEE Minimum Standards organized?

The INEE Minimum Standards Handbook contains 19 standards, each with accompanying key actions and guidance notes. The 19 standards are organized in 5 domains, which are all critical for ensuring access to quality and safe education for all learners in emergencies through to recovery. The 5 domains are Foundational Standards, Access and Learning Environment, Teaching and Learning, Teachers and Other Education Personnel, and Education Policy.

 

Development and Update of the INEE Minimum Standards

INEE facilitated a highly consultative process that engaged national authorities, practitioners, policy-makers, academics and other educators around the world in the development of the original INEE Minimum Standards Handbook in 2003-2004.  Read more about the history and development of the INEE Minimum Standards here.

In 2009-2010, the INEE Working Group on Minimum Standards and Network Tools updated the Handbook to include the following improvements:

  • Strengthening of context analysis and key issues: protection, psychosocial support, conflict mitigation, disaster risk reduction, early childhood development, gender, HIV and AIDS, human rights, inclusive education, inter-sectoral linkages (health; water, sanitation and hygiene promotion; shelter; food and nutrition) and youth. For tools to help with the implementation of these key issues, please visit to the INEE Toolkit.
  • The inclusion of key actions, rather than key indicators, that need to be taken in order to meet the Standards.

 

Tools to Support the Use and Application of the INEE Minimum Standards

The following tools can help you use the INEE Minimum Standards:
• INEE Minimum Standards Implementation Support webpage.  
• Tools and Resources to Support the Use of the INEE Minimum Standards
• Training and Capacity Development resources
• Implementation tools
• Case studies on the application of the INEE Minimum Standards
• E-learning module on the INEE Minimum Standards
• INEE Toolkit
• Institutationalization Checklists

 

Technical support on the INEE Minimum Standards

To receive technical support on the application of the INEE Minimum Standards or to share how you have used the Standards, please contact:

INEE Coordinator for Minimum Standards and Network Tools
UNICEF-Education Section
3 UN Plaza, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10017, USA
minimumstandards@ineesite.org