Education Cannot Wait Interviews UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini
On 18 March 2020, Philippe Lazzarini was appointed Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. He took up his post with UNRWA on 1 April 2020.
Prior to his appointment to UNRWA, Mr Lazzarini served, from August 2015, as the Deputy UN Special Coordinator (UNSCOL) and as the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon.
Mr Lazzarini has over 30 years of professional experience, including in leadership positions with the United Nations, the private sector and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He has extensive experience in humanitarian assistance and international coordination in conflict and post-conflict areas at senior levels, including through his assignment to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia as Deputy Special Representative, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, from 2013 to 2015. He joined the United Nations in Iraq in 2003 and since then has held a number of senior positions, both at Headquarters in New York, and in Angola, Somalia and the occupied Palestinian territory. Prior to joining the United Nations, he worked with Union Bancaire Privée in Geneva as Head of the Marketing Department.
From 1989 to 1999, Mr Lazzarini worked with ICRC as the Deputy Head of Communications in Geneva, Head of Delegation in Rwanda, Angola, and Sarajevo, and as a delegate in Southern Sudan, Jordan, Gaza, and Beirut. He started his professional career in 1987 as an economist with the Canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Mr Lazzarini is a graduate of the University of Neuchatel and of the University of Lausanne, and he is married with four children.
ECW: 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza are in the midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe facing death, injury, disease and famine. Through your inspiring leadership, UNRWA is delivering aid in the most dangerous, challenging conditions in the world. What impact is this war having on the children in Gaza and across the region, what help do they need now and how can we build a lasting peace?
Philippe Lazzarini: UNRWA has been operating in the region for 75 years, promoting human development for Palestine Refugees through education, primary healthcare, and lifesaving assistance. The Agency has been a force for stability for decades, despite chronic funding shortfalls. Today, even as UNRWA faces relentless attacks on our personnel, premises and operations, our staff members continue to provide humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip, working tirelessly to deliver our critical mandate.
The war has severely impacted children in Gaza, where every second person is a child. Thousands of children have been killed, and thousands more are newly disabled. The education system has also been decimated. 625,000 children across the Gaza Strip, including 300,000 UNRWA students, have been denied the right to education since the start of the war. Nearly 70% of UNRWA schools have been hit, highlighting the blatant disregard for international humanitarian law. 95% of these schools were being used as shelters for displaced people when they were hit.
This war is also affecting tens of thousands of children in the West Bank. Their schools are intermittently closed due to operations by Israeli Forces and recurring clashes with Palestinian armed groups.
The longer children stay out of school, the more difficult it becomes for them to catch up on learning losses. They are also at greater risk of violence and exploitation, including child labour, early marriage, and recruitment by armed groups. The impact of this war on children, particularly their mental and psychosocial wellbeing, is tremendous and will have lasting consequences. We must bring them back to learning as soon as possible to mitigate the severity of the harm that has been inflicted on them. UNRWA has resumed learning activities in Gaza and is working to expand these activities to more children.
ECW: All UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip are closed and 625,000 school-age children in Gaza have had no access to safe education since 7 October 2023. Why is education so critical in delivering on the humanitarian imperative for refugee students whose families have been forcibly displaced in Gaza and the region?
Philippe Lazzarini: Education is a fundamental human right and children’s access to quality education should never be compromised, even during conflict. It is easier said than done though, and education is a frequent casualty of war. However, it is possible to facilitate learning, even in circumstances as dire as those we see in Gaza. With the support of partners such as Education Cannot Wait, we are working determinedly to offer psychosocial support and activities for children, young people, and their families. Since the war started on 7 October 2023, we have supported over 400,000 children and adolescents through play activities, support sessions for unaccompanied children, individual and group psychosocial consultations, and education sessions on the risk of unexploded ordnances.
I must emphasize how highly Palestinians value education – it has been the only investment from which they could not be dispossessed. Ask any Palestinian and they will tell you that the education of their children is their pride and joy. People in Gaza are deeply pained that their children have lost so much, including their education. Much more needs to be done to restore education for Gaza’s children. If we fail to bring children back to learning, we will lose an entire generation, sowing the seeds for more violence, hatred and resentment. This is a risk for the whole region, and we should all be motivated to act.
ECW: Education is a proven life-saving action in humanitarian crises. ECW recently announced a US$10M First Emergency Response grant to urgently support mental health and psychosocial services and protective learning opportunities for crisis-affected girls and boys in Gaza. Why are mental health and psychosocial services, plus learning opportunities, crucial in Gaza?
Philippe Lazzarini: UNRWA’s Education in Emergencies plan for Gaza aims to restore the right to education for children, youth and educators. Our plan to resume learning starts with providing mental health and psychosocial support, transitions to teaching reading, writing and math in informal settings, and culminates in a return to formal education in schools. Due to the war, we must constantly adapt our approach to what is realistically achievable amid ongoing conflict and severely restricted humanitarian access. Children in Gaza have already lost one school year, compounding earlier learning losses due to COVID-19. We must work quickly to restore learning in Gaza.
Mental health and psychosocial support is the first crucial step in restoring the right to education. These activities bring children and their families a sense of stability and routine. They allow children to simply be children, for at least a few hours a day. It is safe to say that every single child in Gaza is deeply traumatized. UNRWA aims to keep providing this service for years to come.
We are also working closely with partners to distribute self-learning materials covering the first semester of the coming school year. We plan to support the creation of learning spaces and are exploring what options are available given the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Most UNRWA schools cannot be used for education any longer, as they are sheltering displaced people and have been hit and bombed. Creating safe and protective learning spaces is a crucial part of our plan to restore education in Gaza and will require strong political and financial support.
ECW: At this year’s United Nations General Assembly, you are organizing a high-level event on education in Gaza. What funding, resources, tools, and partnerships are needed to ensure access to safe, quality learning environments for refugee students whose families have been forcibly displaced in Gaza and the region?
Philippe Lazzarini: UNRWA calls once again for an immediate ceasefire and the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid across the Gaza Strip. This is essential for the welfare of children and the meaningful resumption of education.
All children have the right to play, to make friends, to learn and to dream. We will continue to work closely with partners in education including UN agencies, Member States, local and international civil society organisations, and non-governmental organisations, to restore education for children and youth in Gaza. This is a huge undertaking that needs concerted efforts, creative solutions, and political and financial support. UNRWA is fully committed to prioritizing the resumption of learning in Gaza and remains one of the most effective tools at the disposal of the international community.
ECW: We all know that ‘readers are leaders’ and that reading skills are key to every child's education. What are three books that have most influenced you personally and/or professionally, and why would you recommend them to others?
Philippe Lazzarini: Three books/authors come to mind. In no particular order: East West Street by Philippe Sand is an extraordinary historical investigative work on the origins of genocide and crimes against humanity. It deals with atrocities, memory and guilt and how these are passed from one generation to the next. It is brilliantly written, I devoured it! I also really like Amin Maalouf’s books and most recently enjoyed The Disoriented. It captures so well the Lebanese nostalgia for a country they love even though it has never really existed as they imagine. Jim Harrison’s book Dalva also resonated deeply. It tells the story of a fearless and independent woman who undertakes a journey to find herself amid the memories of her youth and her family history. Dalva means “morning star” and this book and the character gave us the name of our first daughter.
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