June 2017. Mosul, Irak. A teacher book found amid the destruction in an abandoned school in Mosul.
A view of a destroyed classroom, through a hole in a wall, shows the scars of the war inside the school of Tel Ruman. April 13th, 2016. Hasakah. Syria. The school remains closed after ISIS attacked it in July 2015. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
On 6 March 2022. Mosul, Iraq. Portrait of Yousef, 12 years old, Jummuria Secondary school. He dreams to become police officer. The school was severely damaged by shelling during the war in Mosul. Explosive weapons kill and main children and leave them with deep psychological scars. Whether or not they are direct targets when explosive weapons are deployed in populated areas schools and hospitals are often damaged beyond repair. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
A Detail of a hand of a student in Swabi. Two rooms of this school were completely destroyed as a result of a Taliban attack on August 2012. Swabi, Pakistan, February 2nd, 2013. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
A young female student group attends lessons at her school attacked on December 21, 2012, at the night in Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. June 4, 2013. The Taliban's violent campaign to stop girls from getting an education was put back in the spotlight when gunmen attacked Malala Yousafzai, a schoolgirl education activist. The attack was just one small piece of a long campaign against the country's education system.
April 2014, Maiduguri, Nigeria. A young schoolboy studies in Maiduguri. Education has been singled out for violent attacks with lethal regularity since early 2012. Attacks on education become a war strategy started as revenge for the military’s assault on Islamic schools at Maiduguri in January 2012. Boko Haram kidnapped 200 school girls in 2014.
MArch 29th, 2018 - STANITSYA LUHANSKA. SCHOOL #2. UKRAINE. A Toy sword lies on the snow at the gate of the abandoned school #2 in STANITSYA LUHANSKA. The school was burnt to the ground, reduced to ashes. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
Kiev, Ukraine. July 16th, 2018. Yelena Shevel, 10 years old Ukrainian girl, puts on a gas mask during training in Lider summer camp outskirts Kiev, Ukraine. “I think it is important to defend our homeland because if we wont do it, then Russia will capture Ukraine and we will become Russia. And its bad because be wont be able to speak, read and write Ukrainian anymore. When I grow up, I will become vet doctor”. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
January 27th, 2022. Nasreen, a Syrian mother holds her little sons, Mohamed and Saad, outside her home, while Kurdish special forces search for escaped prisoners and ISIS fighters inside her home. Diego Ibarra Sánchez for THE NEW YORK TIMES.
Volodymyr – Volynskiy July 20th, 2018. Ukrainian kids train on military war exercises at Ranger Camp, a summer children's youth camp for 12 to 17 years old. Ruslan Bormovoy created it in Volodymyr – Volynskiy, near the Poland Border, on 2017. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
On 24 September 2022, Lviv. Ukraine. Portrait of Mykhailo Baev 12 inside the Pedriatic hospital of Saint Nicholas. A rocket hit his yard, killing his father on July 7th, 2022, and it injured him and his little brother Kyrylo Baev 10. They were evacuated by train to Dnipro hospital and then they were transferred to Hospital Saint Nicholas on July 23rd. Mykhailo has 2 fragments inside his head that threaten his life. Doctors are afraid to remove it. Mykhailo: “War is evil because it takes everything from good people”. “I want to become a chef. I want to go out for eating pizza. It´s too boring being here all the time but I´m feeling safe”.
Attacks on education in Pakistan
A girl plays in a playground at the Colombian school of Tambo. The school is located in front of a police station. Students have been caught in the crossfire for the past decades. The school was a witness to heavy clashes between armed groups and police at the beginning of 2016. Several cylinders blasted the school in 2012 too. Tambo, Cauca. Colombia 2016. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
Marisa Celina Méndez holds the picture of his beloved husband Diego Cenén López Gómez, killed by an armed man on April 2016 when he was teaching inside the school of Cenegueta. Cauca. Colombia 2016. Diego Ibarra Sánchez / MeMo
MARCH 28th, 2018. SVETLODARSKAYA, UKRAINE - An abandoned gymnasium is seen completely destroyed inside Svetlodarskaya School. It has been attacked several times as its located on red line of military conflict. There was a direct hit into the school on February 2015. Canteen, 2 gymnasiums and events halls are damaged. Parents are trying to rebuild the school.
On 29 September 2022, Zhytomyr, Ukraine. Portrait of Daria Kechenovska, 16, inside her destroyed school. Lyceum #25 in Zhytomyr was completely ruined on the morning of 4 March by a missile strike. She studied here for the last 11 years. “I want to become a soldier to defend my country”. The MOES states that 2,601 education institutions (education institutions including schools, universities, and other facilities) have been damaged and 309 have been completely destroyed. UNICEF currently is assisting 1,154 schools (almost 10% of all schools) and will soon increase support to stand-alone kindergartens as well.
The senseless attacks on schools; the killing, injury and abduction of teachers; and the threats against education are destroying the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of childre
April 15th, 2022. Kharkiv, Ukraine. A young student reads inside the “August 23” Subway in Kharkiv. There are 300 families taking shelter here. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
Internet connectivity in Ukraine has remained relatively resilient during the war, thanks in large part to technicians and telecom engineers who’ve risked their lives to keep the country online. That has enabled some students to continue their studies virtually over the past month
A view of a school playground in rubbles of Hani Hakuf ´s School shows the deflagration after an air strike at the end of February. Shaddadi, Syria. April 11th, 2016.
Syria is one of the most heavily affected countries by attacks on education Syria
Nikita, 12, inside a school shelled in 2014 and since abandoned in Nikishino, in the Donetsk People’s Republic. “I was truly scared at the beginning but I get used with time,” he admits. “I always come here to play among the rubles. Sometimes, I feel alone. Almost all my friends have left Nikishino.” The Ukraine Education Cluster estimates that over 700,000 children and teachers in more than 3,500 education facilities in eastern Ukraine are affected by the hostilities and in need of humanitarian assistance. More than 400,000 children experience direct impact of the conflict as they live, play and go to school within the 20-km on both sides of the “contact line”, where shelling and extreme levels of mine-contamination threaten their lives and wellbeing.
A green board surrounded by snow outside the school for Syrian refugees in Zahle. Snow blanketed refugee camps across the region in previous years, and frigid temperatures created concerns about the health of refugees, who lacked access to warm clothing and secure shelter. Zahle, Lebanon 2015. Diego Ibarra Sánchez MeMo
Portrait Nora Nancy, 46 years old teacher, inside a school of Samaniego. Pasto. She was forced to leave her home after the 2008 incident (four teachers were kidnapped, tortured and murdered by FARC in Guachavez. Despite her struggle to get the displaced Status, authorities has denied it. Samaniego, Colombia 2016. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
April 4th, 2018. Spartak, Donetsk. Marina, 17 years old, studies inside her destroyed home located in the almost abandoned northern suburb of Donetsk. Marina has been living in a basement for the latest years with her mom, Svetlana, a house cleaner. Her house is destroyed and its located in the hearth of Spartak, Northern suburbs of Donetsk, where buildings stood ruined on the edge of the airport. She attends lessons at Yakovlevka School. The school provides her a school bus service for going to the school. Sometimes she feels alone. Almost all her friends have left Spartak.
December 12th, 2019. Mar Elias, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Lebanese teacher, Rawa Madi teaches how to use a tablet inside Kayani School Malala. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
A young Colombian kid swims in New Millennium, a suburb of Tumaco, Colombia. Most of the people in the community have been displaced from their homes by the violence. Education is a struggle for kids below the poverty line. Tumaco. Colombia, July 2016. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
April 29, 2019. Stepanakert, Nagorno Karabakh. Portrait of Khachi Petrosyan, 17 years old student of Kristapor Ivanyan Military College. He entered this academy to become an officer.” We know that our enemy is able to do everything. Our duty is to defend our homeland from the Turkish. I am dreaming to continue my education in Russian Federation”
On 7 March 2022. Mosul, Iraq. Ali, 17 years old, shows his arm prosthesis inside his home located outskirts of Mosul. He lost his two hands after being hit by a mortar while he was trying to run away from the war in 2015. His parents were killed in another incident few years ago. He was attending 3rd grade and then he quit studies. In 2021, 52 children were killed and 73 were maimed by explosive remnants of war (ERW) and unexploded ordnance. Diego Ibarra Sánchez for UNICEF
A young boy holds an AK-47 in Benghazi. According to a report of UNICEF, two millions of children have died in these last ten years due to the consequences of the impact of the armed conflicts around the World. Benghazi, Libya 2011. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
On 7 March 2022. Mosul, Iraq. Dalia´s mother helps her daughter, 17 years old, to have sat in a bed at home. Dalia Mohammed Fathi was affected by her spine during an explosion in a bazaar. Her father passed immediately away. She was unconscious for 2 months. Dalal loves maths. Her house in Sinjar is totally destroyed. She does not want to be back to Sinjar till the fighting ends. Diego Ibarra Sánchez for UNICEF
Portrait of Haj Ali, a Sunni 15 years old fighter inside his position in Northern Iraq outside Qayara. He joined the sheikh militia of Nazhan Sajar, to overthrow the Daesh regimen, a couple of years ago. August 2016. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
On 1 March 2022. Basra, Iraq. Portrait of Zainab, 14 years old, inside her house in Zareeji. She was affected by a UXO while she was collecting steel with her brother, Abd Alhussain, 6 km far way her community. “My dream is to see again, I don't want anything else in my life, my wish is to see I have nothing precious than my eyes. I hope my eyesight will return soon.”; “I left school two years ago, I was in the sixth grade, in school my future, I hope to become a doctor.” Even after conflict, the effects of explosive weapons reverberate for years to come. Diego Ibarra Sánchez for UNICEF.
Dede Al Koura, Lebanon 2016. A young Syrian refugee stands during a rainfall inside Al Waha Commercial Centre, an abandoned shopping center near the city of Tripoli. The centre is home to some 300 Syrian families and has been connected to a nearby municipal water tower but still only receives water sporadically. The residents live with few possessions in bare, tiled rooms that used to be shops. Diego Ibarra Sánchez
A view of a Syrian school in rubbles shows a path of destruction after a tank strike in Tel Faida. The school is located at the Christian stronghold of Habur River. Almost 400 Christians were kidnapped in the area on February 23th, 2015. April 13th, 2016. Hasakah, Syria.
War in Syria has decimated the education sector and created over a million school-aged refugees12 with little or no access to learning. Syria
Outskirts Arsal, Lebanon. November 2017. A young Syrian refugee attends lesson outskirts Arsal. Limited resources and residency issues as well as work restrictions on their parents are keeping the kids away from education.
June 2017. Mosul, Irak. A teacher book found amid the destruction in an abandoned school in Mosul.