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REITERATING THE OBVIOUS - EDUCATION IS A HUMAN SECURITY ISSUE INTRODUCTION When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, most governments worldwide temporarily closed educational institutions to control the virus’s spread. While many western nations reacted and swiftly introduced measures to support learners, such as online learning, initiatives, and technology, many developing countries face challenges. Lack of remote learning policies and other factors continue to leave many children and others out and behind in accessing educational services. The pandemic highlighted the gaps in many education systems and governance, revealing many governments’ incompetence to provide and sustain educational systems within their jurisdiction. This inability remains a stark reality and reveals the lack of education for so many, especially girls. Before the pandemic, 130 million girls were out of school.” “At the height of the pandemic, 1.5 billion students were affected worldwide, and over 767 million of these students were girls” in 200 countries.* In sub-Saharan Africa, before the pandemic, efforts to improve the education system were visible, and State parties were enacting their responsibilities required in their legislations and various African Union legal instruments. This paper will discuss four documents that strategically position women’s education as indispensable in tackling the many challenges faced in Africa. The efforts to improve the quality and access to education for girls became more derailed with the pandemic. As the pandemic continues, the question arises about the damage caused and harmful consequences of constantly regulated closures due to the pandemic and the general entrenched lack of access to girls’ education in sub-Saharan Africa? This article restates the obvious by emphasizing that it is imperative to examine education’s promotion and provision through a human security lens. Thus, the article begins by exploring the challenges confronted before and during the pandemic, then examines the effects of non-schooling on girls, followed by discussing African documents to emphasize education as a human security issue. 2 UNESCO, Keeping Girls in the Picture-Youth Advocacy Toolkit, UNESCO, 2020, 4, https:// apa.sdg4education2030.org/sites/apa.sdg4education2030.org/files/2020-09/374113eng%20 %281%29-compressed.pdf. 3 UNESCO, COVID-19: UNESCO and Partners in Education Launch Global Campaign to Keep Girls in the Picture, UNESCO News (28 September 2020), https://en.unesco.org/news/ covid-19-unesco-and-partners-education-launch-global-campaign-keep-girls-picture. + 301 ¢
