School safety and education are both key to reducing the impact of disasters. The role of education in reducing disaster risks is enshrined in all global commitments and frameworks. Foremost among them is the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), which has acknowledged education as one of its five Priorities for Action. Complementing the HFA is the UN Decade for Education and Sustainable Development (ESD) (2005“2014) in which Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is stated a core priority. Furthermore, the Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action (CCCs) constitutes UNICEF's central policy on how to uphold the rights of children affected by humanitarian crises. The CCCs promote predictable, effective and timely collective humanitarian action for its programme commitments including WASH, child protection and education.
Emergencies can, however, present an opportunity to strengthen disaster risk reduction by ˜building back better'. For this to take place an integrated approach for safer school environments for all children is needed from the onset and it is important to create close links with other sector initiatives, such as WASH in schools, as well as providing clear links to other key documents that address the safety and education of children in emergencies.
This compendium of transitional learning spaces in emergencies will ultimately benefit the children and its communities who have lost their school infrastructures and learning environments due to the devastating effects of a disaster. To this end the compendium aims to equip field practitioners with a selection of documented TLSs that have been implemented in past emergencies to capitalise and pass on the knowledge that has been gained from past emergency responses. The compendium reviews and provides practical insides on how to implement TLSs that are most appropriate for various types of emergency situations with strong links to WASH in schools initiatives.