A/HRC/25/46 68. The confirmation of the conviction of former Liberian president Charles Taylor on 26 September 2013 by the Appeal Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone sent a clear message to leaders across the world that no one is immune from justice. The former president was convicted to 50 years in prison on 11 counts of war crimes, including the conscription, enlistment and use of child soldiers. 69. However, significant progress still needs to be accomplished in prosecuting crimes of sexual violence, at both the national and the international level. This need was highlighted by Judge Odio Benito in her dissenting opinion in the case against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, in which she argued that by failing to deliberately include the sexual violence and other ill-treatment suffered by girls and boys within the legal concept of “use to participate actively in the hostilities”, the majority of the Chamber was making that critical aspect of the crime invisible. Sexual violence is recognized and criminalized under the Rome Statute and must be fully acknowledged. The Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, in close cooperation with the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, continues to promote and to advocate for accountability for sexual violence. VIII. Children’s basic needs and humanitarian aid in times of armed conflict 70. Armed conflict goes hand in hand with the fragmentation of families, the disintegration of communities and of the “social fabric”, the breakdown of support systems and the destruction of health services. Armed conflict affects all aspects of children’s development. A. Children’s access to education in times of armed conflict 71. The decline in schooling during periods of armed conflict has dramatic implications for countries’ post-conflict recovery. Education is central to sustainable peace, and it is a way to teach and transmit reconciliation and forgiveness. And yet, millions of children living in conflict-affected countries are being denied access to learning, and their fundamental right to education is being violated. Their schools are attacked or occupied by armed forces, and teachers are targeted, increasing the risk that students and the educational community will never go back to school. In countries such as the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, and the Syrian Arab Republic, primary school-age children are out of school, and their right to education has been compromised by the looting, occupation or destruction of their schools. 72. The Special Representative is deeply concerned by the fact that education is too often treated as a secondary need in situations of emergency. The life-saving and protective role of conflict-sensitive education must be fully acknowledged and prioritized, and initiatives aiming to ensure that schools are considered as safe spaces, neutral areas, or zones of peace should be strongly encouraged, promoted and supported, in order to make education the best weapon against ignorance and intolerance. 73. The Special Representative emphasizes the need to further coordinate efforts to restore schooling for children and rebuild education systems. She highlights the need to support countries affected by emergencies, including host countries, in order to ensure education for all, with a view to accommodating internally displaced persons and refugees in existing schools, by the provision of additional resources and innovative self-learning solutions to improve the access to quality education for every child in all circumstances. 15