Support for the Safe Schools Declaration has come from the highest levels within the UN, notably from UN Secretary-General António Guterres former High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba - each of whom has urged all UN Member States to endorse the Declaration.

To date, 114 states around the world have joined this international political agreement. In May 2019, the government of Spain hosted the Third International Conference on Safe Schools in Palma de Mallorca, and in October 2021, the government of Nigeria hosted the Fourth International Conference on the Safe Schools Declaration in Abuja. In March 2017, the government of the Argentine Republic hosted the Second International Conference on Safe Schools, further building upon the development of a global community dedicated to protecting education in armed conflict. The Declaration was opened for countries to endorse at the First International Conference on Safe Schools in Oslo, Norway, in May 2015. It seeks to ensure the continuity of safe education during armed conflict. The Safe Schools Declaration outlines a set of commitments to strengthen the protection of education from attack and restrict use of schools and universities for military purposes. In 2015, the governments of Norway and Argentina led a process among United Nations (UN) Member States to develop the Safe Schools Declaration, an inter-governmental political agreement dedicated to protecting education in armed conflict.

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