From Policy to Practice : An Analysis of Access to Education in the Context of Humanitarian Action

This study investigates the relationship between policy and practice of access to education within the architectures of humanitarian action. The importance of education as a human right has been internationally widely acknowledged, and more recently it has gained more foothold in discussions about humanitarian action practices. The thesis deploys a research approach that is based on discourse analysis. To analyse policy, internationally and universally recognized and applicable key documents dealing with access to education have been selected for further inspection. Practice is approached through semi-structured interviews with practitioners in the field of humanitarian action and education, and through a case study of Za’atari refugee camp in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Theoretically this thesis is inspired by poststructuralist development theory (PSDT) and its hyponym discursive institutionalism (DI). Based on these influences, I treat education as an institution that is subject to interventions by different actors and phenomena. The findings of this thesis demonstrate, on one hand, that education has become a more central aspect of policy regarding humanitarian action. On the other hand, the results sheer light on various challenges that actors on the practical side face while intending to implement and follow through on policies and principles of the before mentioned documents in the field. Actors that operate in the field are especially facing challenges with unstable financial resources and shortcomings in bringing policy closer to the needs of the field. The findings of this study also suggest that the importance of education as a central element of humanitarian action in crisis and conflict situations need to be realized further. This applies to both policy and practice, for education is now realized as a mean of protection rather than additional good or service