Indonesia: UN agencies urge parties to protect educational facilities in Aceh

United Nations humanitarian and cultural agencies today appealed to all parties to the conflict in Aceh, Indonesia, to protect educational facilities from destruction.

Responding to reports that more than 170 schools have been burned since Monday, when violence erupted in and around Aceh province, the UN agencies – the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) – urged all parties to ensure that educational facilities remain zones of peace, and are not targeted, damaged or destroyed.

There have also been reports suggesting that over 60,000 children have already been affected by the fighting. UNICEF said it will dispatch 300 emergency schools kits along with 50 school tents to Aceh for internally displaced children, as well as communities where schools have been destroyed. They will be set up in partnership with the provincial government there.