Education Inequality and Violent Conflict: Evidence and Policy Considerations

Equity is at the heart of the new global development agenda, with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prioritizing a fair, inclusive world, where futures are not determined by one's wealth, ethnicity, sex, or other socioeconomic factors. This policy brief summarizes EPDC research findings produced under UNICEF's Learning for Peace program. The relationship between education inequalities and violent conflict finds strong empirical support, particularly in the years after 2000. Multiple measures of inequality are tested, including group-based (horizontal) and between-individual (vertical) measures between sexes, subnational regions, and ethnic/religious groups, and a rigorous research design is employed to isolate for the relationship between inequality and conflict. Policy implications are discussed herein.