• Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Global logoCarnegie lettermark logo
DemocracyIran
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Maha Yahya"
  ],
  "type": "other",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
  ],
  "collections": [
    "Coronavirus"
  ],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center",
  "programAffiliation": "MEP",
  "programs": [
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Middle East",
    "North Africa"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economy",
    "Education"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

Other
Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Protecting and Transforming Education for Shared Futures and Common Humanity

School closures have highlighted the digital gap between those who can access remote learning and those without the basic means to do so.

Link Copied
By Maha Yahya
Published on May 13, 2020
Program mobile hero image

Program

Middle East

The Middle East Program in Washington combines in-depth regional knowledge with incisive comparative analysis to provide deeply informed recommendations. With expertise in the Gulf, North Africa, Iran, and Israel/Palestine, we examine crosscutting themes of political, economic, and social change in both English and Arabic.

Learn More

Source: International Commission on the Futures of Education

Covid-19 has brought existing structures of inequality into sharp focus. This is not an issue of a global North and underdeveloped South. Rather it is within regions and countries and between classes of citizens. Access to urgent healthcare within countries between resource rich and resource poor regions is just the tip of the iceberg. School closures have highlighted the digital gap between those who can access remote learning and those without the basic means to do so. And pandemic related social distancing measures are impossible to implement for the 2 billion informal workers and 70 million refugees and internally displaced people around the world who have no basic social protection (with no health or unemployment benefits). For them the choice is to die of Corona or die of hunger.

Read Full Text

This article was originally published on UNESCO's Digital Library.

About the Author

Maha Yahya

Director, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Maha Yahya is director of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, where her research focuses on citizenship, pluralism, and social justice in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings.

    Recent Work

  • Commentary
    Israel Goes to War with Iran

      Maha Yahya

  • Commentary
    Joseph Aoun Has Been Elected President of Lebanon

      Maha Yahya

Maha Yahya
Director, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
Maha Yahya
EconomyEducationMiddle EastNorth Africa

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

  • Trump and Netanyahu speaking
    Commentary
    Emissary
    The Diverging U.S. and Israeli Goals in Iran Are Making the Endgame Even Murkier

    The cracks between Trump and Netanyahu have become more pronounced, particularly over energy and leadership targets.

      • Eric Lob

      Eric Lob

  • Seoul traffic at night
    Commentary
    Emissary
    How the Hormuz Closure Is Testing the Korean President’s Progressive Agenda

    The crisis is not just a story of energy vulnerability. It’s also a complex, high-stakes political challenge.

      Darcie Draudt-Véjares

  • Commentary
    Strategic Europe
    Russia’s Imperial Retreat Is Europe’s Strategic Opportunity

    The war in Ukraine is costing Russia its leverage overseas. Across the South Caucasus and Middle East, this presents an opportunity for Europe to pick up the pieces and claim its own sphere of influence.

      William Dixon, Maksym Beznosiuk

  • Mourners hold up their phones showing images of Ali Khamenei during a memorial vigil after Iranian state media confirmed the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 1, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.
    Article
    Iran Wields Wartime Internet Access as a Political Tool

    In an effort to disseminate its preferred message, the Iranian regime is offering a simple transaction: connectivity for amplification.

      Mahsa Alimardani

  • Dried tree branches are seen next to the Qaraoun Lake which has fallen to its lowest water level in history due to last year's insufficient rainfall and this year's increasing heat wave in Beqaa Valley, Lebanon on August 03, 2025
    Article
    Grassroots Climate Justice in Lebanon: Money, Power, and the Politics of Survival

    Lebanon is caught in a cycle of financial meltdown, political instability, and climate change.

      • Ilda Nahas

      Ilda Nahas

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie global logo, stacked
1779 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC, 20036-2103Phone: 202 483 7600Fax: 202 483 1840
  • Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
  • Donate
  • Programs
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Government Resources
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.