Implementing the Safe Schools Declaration in West and Central Africa  

To enhance community ownership, Plan International and its partners have translated the Safe Schools Declaration into local languages for audiences in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

In West and Central Africa, school closure due to insecurity between June 2024 and 2025 have affected 3.013 million children, up from 2.8 million the previous year. This fuels long-term inequality and psychological distress. Attacks and occupation of schools also heighten the risk of child recruitment, exploitation and gender-based violence.

Plan International is a strong advocate of the Safe Schools Declaration in the West and Central Africa region. The declaration is an inter-governmental political commitment to protect students, teachers, schools, and universities from attack and occupation. In West and Central Africa, Plan International has promoted the endorsement of the Declaration, the creation of technical committees that coordinate its implementation, as well as the development of action plans at national, regional and community level.  

Translating the Declaration in national languages

Translating the Declaration in national languages – a joint initiative of the national technical committees responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration and Plan International – has also been key to promote uptake at community level. The aim is to make the content of the Declaration and its guidelines accessible to a wide audience within communities. The initiative started in Mali with a pilot project in 4 national languages (Bambara, Fulfuldé, Sonrhaï, and Tamasheq), and it has then been extended to Burkina Faso with translation into Mooré, Dioula, and Fulfuldé, and to Niger with Tamasheq and Zarma.  

For more detailed insights into how governments and partners are putting these commitments into practice, a regional summary of key actions taken by countries provides an overview of progress in the region.  

Download the Safe Schools Declaration translation in national languages here:

With thanks to our donors for supporting Plan International’s efforts to make schools a safer place for children and teachers.