São Paulo –Brazil’s First Lady, Rosângela Lula da Silva, aka Janja, discussed education and war at the International Day to Protect Education from Attack (IDPEA) event organized by the Education Above All Foundation (EAA) in Doha, Qatar. The gathering included heads of state, high-level professionals, and United Nations representatives.
At the event, which had the theme “Education in Peril: The Human Cost of War,” Janja highlighted how war and urban violence, including police operations, affect school life and the functioning of schools. The event was led by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of the EAA Foundation, with whom the first lady met on Sunday to also discuss the right to education.
“Today, we are witnessing an expansion and deepening of armed conflicts across various regions of the world, with distinct characteristics, but with one common factor: It is the most vulnerable populations who suffer the most. War is no longer a confrontation between soldiers but has become an atrocity with civilians as its greatest victims, especially women and children,” Janja said during the panel.
Janja said that, whether these conflicts are international or not, they create barriers to accessing education. “The situation for girls is even more dramatic. Many of them are forced to abandon their studies due to the risk of sexual violence,” she told the event’s audience. On her social media, Janja wrote that, worldwide, over the last 10 years, there have been more than 15,000 attacks on schools, teachers, and students.
Janja in Qatar
Among Janja’s other activities in Qatar, she visited the First Assalam School, which welcomes refugee children from places such as Gaza, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen. The first lady also toured Education City, which brings together institutes of education, research, and innovation in Qatar, and expressed her excitement about the potential for cooperation between Brazil and Qatar in education and professional development. On social media, Janja thanked Sheikha Moza for the warm reception and hospitality, and said she felt honored to have been the only first lady from outside the Middle East, Asia, and Africa invited to the event.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
